Class 
Book 



THE 

CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY; 



OR, 

%ttoc* of mang f enwtut 



EMINENT FOR SANCTITY 



IN 



^artoug States of Htfe, 

" The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro as 
sparks among the reeds." 

" I saw a great multitude whom no man could number, 
of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation 5 
standing before the Throne of God and the Lamb." 

HonUon : 

PRINTED BY RICHARDSON AND SON, 

172, FLEET STREET; 
9, OA PEL STREET, PURLIN, AN^QfiSSX*^ 



/ P 



( 



.G3 



TO 

OUR LADY OF DOLOURS. 



0 most sacred, most amiable, and 
immaculate Mother of God! delight 
of angels! and, after Jesus, the Hope 
of men ! 0 Queen of martyrs ! whose 
blessed soul, wounded by Simeon's 
prophecy, unceasingly sustained new 
pangs until that tragic day when, 
"pierced with the thorns, transfixed 
with the nails, and sprinkled by the 
precious blood of Christ, as of a 
Lamb unspotted and undefiled" you 
received with anguish indescribable 
His last sigh, permit me to lay at 



IV 



DEDICATION. 



your feet, standing by the Cross, this 
little work, as some reparation for 
the immense share I have had in 
your unutterable woe. It contains 
the histories of some who have 
had the ineffable happiness of never 
straying from the fold, and thereby 
grieving your heart; and the Biog- 
raphy of others, who, after imbruing 
their hands in the blood of your 
Son, have, through your intercession, 
returned to Him, and been washed 
in that redeeming fount, which has its 
source on Calvary. Bless it, 0 most 
dolorous Mother, with your own 
precious benediction! Make its peru- 
sal productive of great glory and 
love to Jesus and you, and of 
salvation to man, and the desires of 
your unworthy child shall be consum- 
mated. 

Tremorc, Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, 
and Vigil of the Holy Cross, 1848. 



preface 



That sanctity of life is attainable in all lawful 
states — that every condition, every rank, every 
sphere enjoyed by the members of Christ's one 
true Church has furnished models of gospel virtue — 
that all can be, and numbers have been, his true 
imitators — is a truth too manifest to require proof. 
Every age since the promulgation of Christianity 
abounds in such examples, all ecclesiastical his- 
tory teems with them. Not to recur to distant 
ones, many being more struck by those that are 
recent and in some manner new, we have made a 
selection, as the title bears, from every rank in life, 
in which the priest and the religious, the virgin 
and the matron, the merchant and the mechanic, 
can see how the great precepts of the law, and 
the counsels of the gospel can be carried out, and 
made the basis of the system which regulates our 
life and conduct. And this selection has been 
made from authentic sources — except the lives of 
the Rev. Fathers Faber and Alvarez, which were 
gleaned from the Spanish edition of " the lives of 
the first Jesuits" that of F. Lallemant, another 
member of the holy society of Jesus, taken from 
a genuine French author, and those of Madame 
St. Beuve, and M. Magdalen Beron, both derived 



PREFACE. 

from "the Ursuline Chronicles — all have been tran- 
slated from the works of the holy and zealous 
Abbe Carron, who, driven from his own country 
by the horrors of the French revolution, did so 
much in England for the education of its youth, 
and who was himself a model of every virtue. 

A wish having been expressed, a suggestion 
having been thrown out, in a rather recent num- 
ber of our national periodical * for such a work, 
as well as our own conviction of its utility, 
inspires the hope that it may meet a favourable 
reception in the Catholic literary world ; we mean 
that it may induce practice, and thereby serve the 
only end for which it was intended, to the greater- 
glory of God, and the eternal happiness of our 
neighbour. If works of fiction are warmly wel- 
comed — and they ought when their tendency i 
religious as well as recreative and instructive — 
we humbly submit that tales, histories of real 
life, ought to be so much the more useful and 
interesting, as reality surpasses imagination. We 
shall say no more in recommendation, but leaving 
the work to speak for itself and stand in its own 
merits, forthwith introduce it to our readers. 



* The Dublin Review. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



THE LIFE OF FATHER PETER FABRO, 
OR FABER. 

TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH. 



CHAPTER L 

The venerable Father Peter Fabro, or Faber, of 
the Society of Jesus, whose life we undertake to 
write, was born in the diocese of Geneva, in the 
year 1507. He received so pious an education, that 
even while he tended his father's flocks, he en- 
deavoured with rapid strides to " follow the divine 
Lamb," and with the approbation of his spiritual 
guide, made a vow of perpetual chastity. Having 
expressed his desire of serving God in the holy 
ministry, when he had already made a great pro- 
gress in learning, his parents contrived to send 
him to the college of St. Barbara, in Paris, to 
complete his studies. He there displayed such 
virtue and talent, that he was appointed to assist 
St. Ignatius of Loyola, then a student in the 
same college, in learning philosophy. Thus com- 
menced that close intercourse which was so advan- 
tageous to both ; for if Faber helped Ignatius to 
acquire human science, Ignatius accelerated 
Faber's progress in the ways of God. Being 
greatly tormented by temptations against that 
chastity which he had vowed, and being also 
solicited to pride and vain glory, he disclosed his 
state to his holy pupil, and found in his advice 



8 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



the resolution of his doubts and the relief of his 
pains. Soon after Ignatius having caused him 
to make the spiritual exercises which had been so 
useful to himself, and taught him the practices of 
meditation, particular examen, &c, he became 
quite a new man, and quickly advanced through 
all the paths of the interior life. Being ordained 
priest, about the year 1534, he received the vow 
of Ignatius and his companions to go to Pales- 
tine for the service of the Christians ; or, if this 
could not be effected in a year, to offer themselves 
to be disposed of according to the good pleasure 
of the Pope. This after giving them the holy com- 
munion on the feast of the Assumption of the ever 
Blessed Virgin in the chapel of Montmartre. In 
this vow he too concurred, and before the 25th of 
January, 1537, the time fixed for its fulfilment, he 
had so far gained three others, already doctors in 
divinity, that they too joined the standard of 
Ignatius. 

Being authorised by an indult from his holiness 
Paul III. to receive holy orders from whatsoever 
bishop they pleased, they were ordained at Venice 
by the bishop of Arbe. They then dispersed 
themselves about Verona and Vicenza, to preach 
and instruct the people, until an opportunity 
might occur of going to the Holy Land ; but a war 
having broken out between the Venetians and the 
Turks about the expiration of the year, they were 
compelled to relinquish their first design, and in 
pursuance of their vow they went to offer them- 
selves to the Pope, He received them graciously, 
and forthwith appointed Father Faber to teach 
divinity in the Sapienza at Rome, while Laynez 
explained the holy Scriptures, and Ignatius and 
the others served in the hospitals and instructed 
the ignorant, both there and at Venice. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER II. 

After labouring some time in these several 
offices, the holy founder, Ignatius, with a view to 
perpetuate the work of God, assembled them all at 
Rome, and proposed to them his design of forming 
themselves into a religious order. After recom- 
mending the matter to God, all acquiesced, and 
resolved that besides the vows of poverty and 
chastity already made, they would add that of 
perpetual obedience to a general chosen from 
amongst them, whose authority would be absolute, 
and government perpetual, but, at the same time, 
entirely dependant on the Pope. 

Paul III. having approved of the new order, 
erected under the title of the Jesuits, or Fathers 
of the Society of Jesus, by a bull of the 27th 
September, 1540, Ignatius was chosen general 
much against his will, and about the beginning of 
the next year, all having made their solemn vows, 
he set himself to write the constitutions. 

In a short time, the great good operated by the 
Jesuits became so evident, that their fame was 
spread all over Europe, and applications were 
made for them by many princes ; Father Faber 
was in consequence sent to Spain, where he per- 
formed wonders. His words were so efficacious, 
that by only saying to a young man, Maximilian 
Capela, Do you wish to embrace our institute? he 
caused him to renounce the world and become 
his novice, though until then he had not the 
slightest intention of doing so. When leaving 
Spain for Germany, the two chaplains of her 
Royal Highness the Infanta, who by her order 
accompanied him from Ocana to Toledo, were so 
moved by the good Father's conversation that 



10 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



they could not think of returning, and both be- 
came fervent members of the Society. But if he 
operated so much good in Spain, he did still more 
in Germany, as we shall now see. 



CHAPTER III. 

FATHER FABER CONVERTS MANY HERETICS IN GER- 
MANY, &C. 

The Lutheran heresy having made such great 
ravages in Germany, Father Faber was sent there 
to arrest its progress. When he arrived in Espira, 
one of the cities of that empire, the clergy, who 
were very disorderly, strongly opposed him ; but, 
by his prudence and affability, he gained consider- 
ably on them. He converted numbers of heretics, 
reduced several monasteries to the observance of 
religious discipline, and roused the prelates and 
pastors to labour earnestly for their flocks. He 
produced wonderful fruit by his sermons and 
exhortations; even the heretics were so pleased 
with him, that on leaving Espira they deeply felt 
his departure. He converted a famous doctor of 
theirs by his affability and services; these were 
the arms he employed, knowing that when the 
heart is moved it is easier to convince the mind. 

By his exertions many of the clergy who had 
hitherto lived in great licentiousness, took up 
again the spirit of their holy state ; religious dis- 
cipline too was better observed ; and, in fine, the 
people became so pious, that the parish priests 
there had more communicants at the Easter of 
that year, than during the twenty years which 
preceded it. 

The success which attended his labours, in- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



11 



spired a hope that he might be able to bring back 
the whole empire to the fold of the church. The 
Pope's nuncio was so struck by it, that he prevail- 
ed on his holiness to oblige Father Faber to re- 
main at Cologne, the archbishop of which was 
infected with the errors of the day, otherwise he 
would have gone to Ebora at the request of the 
king of Portugal. While there, he spared no 
pains to stem the violence of the heretical party, 
grown insolent under the connivance of the 
archbishop. He preached frequently, many of 
the most respectable among the inhabitants at- 
tended his sermons, and truth became so irresisti- 
ble in his mouth, that some theologians, the en- 
tire university, most of the clergy, and number- 
less others joined him. But his exertions did not 
end here ; days and nights were spent by him in 
hearing confessions, in visiting relaxed monaste- 
ries, and in many other good works. He endea- 
voured by his letters to procure defenders of our 
holy faith, and engaged several eminent prelates 
to obtain from the emperor Charles the expulsion 
of Bucer and his adherents. He held frequent 
disputations with the heretics, and manifested in 
them such wisdom and erudition, that he was 
universally admired; those who before fancied 
themselves learned, were now convinced how re- 
mote they were from his science. The partisans 
of error no longer dared to propagate openly their 
pernicious tenets, and the archbishop too was 
kept in awe by the presence of the Father, so 
that he was styled by many, the Saviour of 
Cologne. 

His success may in great measure be attributed 
to his fervent prayer. He used sometimes to 
shut himself up in a little chapel, commonly styled 
the golden chamber, in which were preserved" the 



12 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



relics of St. Ursula and her 11000 virgin com- 
panions, and there, prostrate on the floor, pour 
out his soul before God for the wants of his holy 
church. He frequently offered the holy sacrifice 
there, and was there favoured with many celestial 
favours, so that he came forth firm as a rock 
against the storms raised to overwhelm him ; and 
though alone, and poor, and humble, he became 
the terror of his proudest adversaries. 

The following letter, addressed to Father James 
Laynez, afterwards general of the Society, shows 
how skilled he was in the manner of treating with 
heretics. 

" May the grace and peace of our Redeemer ever 
reign in our hearts. For want of time, as also 
from the weakness occasioned by my illness, [ 
have hitherto deferred to give the necessary in- 
formation to those who wish to labour for the 
conversion of heretics, as your Reverence desired. 
But I shall now say something ; and first, Those 
who would bring back the abettors of error, should 
endeavour to conceive for them a strong and 
hearty affection. This they should testify by 
every external mark ; it will in time inspire reci- 
procal sentiments, and ultimately prevail on them 
to embrace the practices of Christian mortifica- 
tion, which paves the way for the subjection of 
the mind to the obedience required by holy faith. 
In the first ages the gospel tenets should be pro- 
posed before the morality ; but in these times it is 
necessary to adopt the contrary course, and to 
draw men from their vices, before we speak to 
them of their errors. I for the present forbear 
giving a signal proof of what I advance. Again, 
as the Lutherans make no account of good works, 
we should try to induce them to their performance. 
When they say it is useless to pray, or hear Mass, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



13 



and impossible to fast and mortify oneself, we 
should persuade them to make the trial. He 
who would use no other means to convert these 
persons, than to recommend the practice of prayer 
and meditation on the four last things, &c. 
would labour perhaps better than if to convince 
their understanding he quoted every text that 
makes against them, from Genesis to Revelations. 
The people should be drawn by admonition to the 
fear of God and love of virtue. Behold the 
panacea for their evils. May Jesus, the Saviour, 
who knows that his written word will not alone 
suffice to save us, touch our hearts with his holy 
grace, Amen. 

"Brother Peter Faber." 

For the great fruit produced by this holy man 
in other cities of Germany, as well as the sanctity 
of his life, we have the testimony of Father Ca- 
nisius. Having learned by revelation of the estab- 
lishment of a certain order for the salvation of 
souls, and which he himself was to embrace, Cani- 
sius, on hearing of Father Faber, at once knew 
that his was the institute, and set out for Magun- 
cia, where the Father then was, and entered the 
Society. Hear how he relates it, in a letter to a 
friend. 

"I have happily reached Maguncia, where, to my 
great spiritual advantage, 1 have found the man 
whom I have so long sought for, if he be a man and 
not an angel. In my life I have not found one more 
holy, or more learned; all his anxiety is to 
co-operate in the work of redemption ; he scarcely 
speaks a word which tends not to the glory of 
God, and this without being annoying to his 
hearers. His fame has induced many ecclesi- 
astics and religious to place themselves under 



14 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



his direction. Among others the celebrated Cocleo 
says, he cannot sufficiently thank God for favour- 
ing him with his guidance. I have made the 
spiritual exercises under him, and can hardly tell 
their good effects ; my whole soul is changed, my 
mind illumined, my memory purified, my will 
strengthened, and I renewed in body and soul 
and become quite a new man." Thus far Canisius. 
We shall now see what the Father effected in 
Louvain. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE LABOURS OF THE FATHER IN LOUVAIN. 

On returning from Germany to Spain, Father 
Faber visited Louvain, so famed for its university, 
where his stay was miraculously prolonged. F. 
Cornelius Uvishabeo, a holy priest of that city, 
who by his zealous preaching had wrought many 
conversions, and by his virtues gained the admira- 
tion of all, had been long wishing for such an 
institute as that of St. Ignatius, when, lo ! some 
of our Fathers came to Louvain. He soon became 
linked with them in the bonds of indissoluble 
friendship, which, because of his respectability, 
greatly accredited them in the public mind, and 
finally expressed his wish to join the Society. 
Just then Father Faber arrived ; he most cordially 
received Cornelius, but damped his spirits not a 
little by saying, that he could not remain in 
Louvain longer than the next morning, being 
commanded by Father Ignatius to go to Portugal 
before he proceeded to Spain. It amused him 
somewhat to hear the earnest petition which Cor- 
nelius made, that lie might be obliged to remain 
until he had done what was necessary for the sal- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



15 



vation of the inhabitants ; but he soon recognised 
its efficacy, for he was at once attacked by a 
tertian ague, which obliged him to keep his bed. 
For two months he was attended by the physicians, 
but all their prescriptions were ineffectual, and 
his recovery began to be despaired of. Recognis- 
ing his illness at length to be the effect of Corne- 
lius's prayer, he entreated him to beg his cure, 
which was no sooner done than he found himself 
perfectly well, to the great amazement of the 
physicians. All now saw the hand of God in this 
incident, for even while extended on his bed, the 
good Father did wonders for the divine glory. 

Having received into the Society the holy priest 
Cornelius, to secure him from the assaults of vain 
glory, because of the esteem in which he was 
held, Father Faber continued for two months to 
try his patience and humility in every possible 
way, treating him publicly and privately as a poor 
ignorant person. Sometimes he caused him to 
wait with his time- glass in his hand while a bro- 
ther, named Estrada, preached to the people, 
though he was an older priest and a much better 
preacher. At other times he gave him, without 
cause, most severe reprehensions. Now he com- 
manded him to write something, and when done, 
he tore it up or blotted it over, and caused him to 
write it again and again without appearing satis- 
fied with the writing or punctuation. At night, 
he prescribed to him the order to be observed in 
the next day's actions. If there was a journey to 
be made, he mentioned the road he was to take ; 
when he had business to do, he told him the 
words he should use, and these were often foreign 
to his purpose. He sometimes required him to 
perform very difficult things, and which interfered 
one with another. Cornelius profited so well in 



16 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



his school that he became perfect in all virtue. 
He had so much respect for Father Faber that he 
scarcely uttered a word in his presence, and ask- 
ed his permission for the least things. 

He was not the only person benefited by the de- 
tention of the Father ; Brother Estrada, by means 
of his instructions, became a zealous missionary 
and an excellent preacher. When only reading 
philosophy the concourse to his sermons was im- 
mense, so that he was often obliged to preach out- 
side the church. Lest this occupation might de- 
prive him of sufficient time for study, his good 
spiritual father used to compose for him as he lay 
sick in bed. Thus he shared in the merit of 
the innumerable conversions which these dis- 
courses effected, and which may indeed be attri- 
buted to his own spirit, which seemed to be trans- 
mitted to Estrada. 

During his illness so many persons came to beg 
the advice of Father Faber, that his recovery was 
greatly retarded ; but he would have none refused 
admittance. They heard him as an oracle, and 
saw by what afterwards occurred, that he was 
under the immediate influence of the Divine Spirit. 
Many persons made under him the spiritual exer- 
cises of St. Ignatius ; one of them, a great digni- 
tary, begged to be received into the society ; but 
the Father advised him to remain among the 
secular clergy, judging that, by his good exam- 
ple, he would greatly benefit that venerable body. 
Some monasteries of religious women, who hither- 
to lived in great relaxation, utter strangers 
to the spirit of their state, having placed them- 
selves under his direction, he wrought so great a 
change in them, that they became models of reli- 
gious observance, and worthy spouses of Jesus 
Christ. 

9 'vSSl 



CATHOLIC BIOGrHAPHY, 



17 



By his advice many embraced the monastic 
state, and others, remaining in the world, conse- 
crated themselves to God by the vow of perpetual 
chastity. Among those whom he admitted to the 
Society, were the five masters in arts and some 
doctors of the University. These were at first 
greatly opposed by their friends and parents ; 
but soon, edified by the constancy with which they 
resisted their solicitations, and at the fervour with 
which they sacrificed them to the Lord, they 
came to congratulate them on their choice and 
encourage them to perseverance. 



CHAPTER V. 

FATHER FABER MAKES SPAIN THE THEATRE OF HIS 
LABOURS. 

From Louvain Father Faber proceeded to Por- 
tugal, whence, after cultivating some time the 
vineyard of the Lord, he passed into Spain. The 
Archbishop of Toledo, the Pope's legate, and 
several other great persons, placed themselves 
almost immediately under his direction, being 
moved thereto by the esteem in which he was 
held by his Portuguese Majesty. On arriving at 
Valladolid, where the court was then held, he took 
up his quarters at the hospital as usual, the com- 
mand of the prince alone induced him to choose a 
more commodious lodging. This good father's 
engagements at court did not prevent him from 
exercising his ministry in the city. He and Fa- 
ther Aroaz preached in the public places to 
crowded auditories, taught children and adults 
the Christian doctrine, visited the prisons and 



18 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



hospitals, and heard the confessions of those 
whom their sermons induced to return to God. 

The Divine benediction was evident on their 
labours, the face of society being soon quite 
changed and altered. These treated now of 
prayer and mortification, who hitherto only 
thought of vanity and amusements. Many devo- 
ted themselves to serve the hospitals and perform 
other works of charity. The reputation of the 
Fathers was soon diffused from Valladolid through 
the provinces. Some called them the Ignacions, 
from their founder St. Ignatius ; others the 
Papists, because of their vow of obedience to the 
Holy See ; while almost all conferred on them 
the appellation of Apostles, sent by God to rouse 
men from the lethargy # in which they had been 
hitherto lulled. 

Some persons at court having expressed their 
surprise, that treating with all sorts of persons of 
both sexes the Father still preserved such modes- 
ty and recollection ; Father Melchior Cano, who 
resided there, said it was because they carried 
about them a certain herb which conferred the 
gift of purity, and that all the society were pro- 
vided therewith. This being related to the 
prince, he commissioned Don John of Tuinga 
to inquire of the Fathers the name of the wonder- 
ful plant, that he also might share in its effica- 
cious properties; Father Aroaz, without much 
hesitation, said that it was called the fear of God, 
which answer procured him great applause. The 
king greatly favoured the Society, seeing the 
wonderful fruits produced by the Fathers. These 
were so great, that, lest his brethren might be 
elated and attribute them to their own exertions, 
Father Faber used to say, it was now the good 
seed formerly sown in Spain by St. Ignatius was 



CATHOLIC BIOGRATCIY. 



19 



bringing forth fruit, and that God permitted the 
sons to reap the victories of the father. 

To aid thern in their glorious work, he received 
into the Society many excellent subjects, many 
of whom were drawn to God in an extraordinary 
manner. One of them, a nobleman of Castile, 
before the arrival of the Fathers, saw them in sleep, 
accompanied by the Holy Virgin, who having 
asked him if he desired to serve her Son, told 
him to follow these men, and then disappeared. 
The manner in vrhich John N ugnez Barreto, after- 
wards the Patriarch of Ethiopia, was drawn to the 
Society, is no less wonderful. He was a secular 
priest, very pious, and so devoted to the exercise 
of prayer, that he spent in it every day five or six 
hours, accompanying it with great mortifications. 
Though he was so attentive in the confessional, 
so frequently in the pulpit, and so devout at the 
altar, that he was generally denominated the holy 
priest, yet it always seemed to him that he was 
not doing what God wished, that something more 
was required of him. Knowing his perplexity, 
his brother Melchior Nugnez, already of the 
Society, proposed to him to embrace it, saying he 
would find therein sufficient to gratify his most 
ardent desires of a more perfect life. But John, 
though he much esteemed the institute, could not 
be wrought upon, imagining that its functions 
would not leave him time enough for prayer, and 
the exercises of the interior life, but determined, 
after many masses offered to know the divine 
will, to consult Father Faber, who was then 
at Coimbria. At the same juncture he had a 
vision, in which he saw the Father saying mass, 
and he himself serving it. Fearing this might 
be an illusion, he had recourse to the Blessed 
Virgin, who by a visible apparition, confirmed 



20 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Iiim in his purpose, and referred him to Father 
Faber for the solution of his difficulties. No more 
was necessary. Nugnez at once set out, and, at- 
tired in the poorest manner, arrived at Coimbria. 
All his former apprehensions now returned. It 
seemed to him that if he entered the society, and 
employed himself in the conversion of souls, he 
would lose interior peace, and that sweetness 
which is felt in living solitary with God. In this 
state of mind he was introduced to F. Faber, 
whom he at once recognised as the person whom 
he had been shown. After discovering to him 
his whole soul, the Father declared to him, that 
he was called to a more perfect life. I tell you 
candidly my opinion, said Father Faber, lest at 
the day of judgment you might plead ignorance. 
God wishes you to serve him in holy poverty and 
obedience, and that you not only labour for the 
salvation of one people, but be ready to go to any 
part of the world to promote his greater glory at 
the expense of your own peace and quiet ; and 
it is because you do not obey him that he has 
reduced you to this state of perplexity, and de- 
prived you of his wonted consolations. On hear- 
ing this Nugnez threw himself at his feet, and 
professed his sincere will to be guided in all things 
by him. Well, said Father Faber, when you rise 
to-night to make your ordinary prayer, offer your- 
self unreservedly to God, defy the devil, setting 
before you all you may meet in the society con- 
trary to your taste and inclination ; and in the 
morning, after saying mass, deliberate before the 
Holy Sacrament what you would wish to have 
done at the hour of death. The good Nugnez 
obeyed ; he had a great conflict it is true, but he 
came off victorious. In his prayer and while offer- 
ing the holy Sacrifice, he was favoured with such 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



21 



a knowledge of the perfection of our institute, 
and felt so convinced of .its fitness for him, that 
he at once entered the noviceship. He performed 
the most abject functions with such-- joy and alac- 
rity, as Father Faber said he had never before 
met, and as for his docility, it far surpassed that 
of persons the most tried in the religious life. 
iNugnez made such a progress in perfection, that 
he was promoted to the patriarchate of Ethiopia, 
and died holily at Goa. Behold some of the 
fruits of the great lights of our Venerable Father. 
His virtues were equally wonderful, as we shall 
now see. 



CHAPTER VI. 

EMINENT VIRTUES OF FATHER FABER. 

This venerable man among other virtues pos- 
sessed a great spirit of prayer. He spent in it 
many hours each day, and made use of every 
object that struck his eye to raise his mind to 
God, particularly when journeying from one place 
to another. On reaching the suburbs of a town, 
he invoked the blessed Spirit who guarded it, and 
the angels of all those who dwelt therein, to defend 
him and them from sin and all danger, and to fur- 
ther by their intercession the end of iris visit. His 
frequent illnesses did not interrupt his communi- 
cations with God. If he sometimes felt dry and 
without sentiment on these occasions, by recollect- 
ing this of the Psalmist, In tribulation Thou hast 
enlarged me, he was consoled, and humbly added 
with the same inspired author, In pace dormiam et 
requiescam ; "In this peace will I sleep and rest." 
Sometimes, when violent headaches kept him 



22 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY". 



whole nights without sleeping, his prayer was to 
place his head near^that of his divine Master, 
and to desire to be pierced with the thorns that 
enwreathed it. 

The ordinary matter of his meditations was the 
death and passion of Jesus Christ. He had some 
■very excellent methods of prayer. One was, in 
reciting the litanies of the saints, to converse inte- 
riorily with tfyem from time to time, or place 
before them some stage of our Lord's passion, 
and beseech them by it to obtain the object of 
some particular request. At other times he made 
a prayer of the different parts of the Christian 
doctrine, begging of our Lord the entire observ- 
ance of each, by him and all Christians. 

This holy man had a singular devotion to the 
Blessed Virgin. He divided her life into three 
parts, denominating from her Immaculate Con- 
ception till her Annunciation, the time of prepa- 
ration ; from thence till the Resurrection of our 
Lord, the time of compassion; and from the 
Resurrection till her Assumption, the time of de- 
sire. He was very devout also to the angels, and 
destined one day in each week to honour them. 
To the saints, particularly St. John Baptist and 
St. Martin, he frequently offered the tribute of 
his veneration. He kept a catalogue of the patron 
saints of the places through which he passed in 
his Breviary, . and frequently invoked their aid. 
On the feasts of. the martyrs he assisted in spirit at 
their combats ; and on the festivals of the virgins, 
he begged of our Lord to make all Christians his 
everlasting sanctuaries. On the feast of any par- 
ticular saint, he thanked the Divine Majesty for 
the graces bestowed on him ; congratulated the 
Blessed Virgin and the angel-guardian of the 
saint for the graces they procured him, and finally 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



23 



begged the manifestation of such of his virtues 
and good works as were not yet known, for the 
increase of devotion towards him, 

If Father Faber advanced so rapidly in the 
science of holy prayer, it was because of the fer- 
vent attention he preserved therein, and the great 
preparation he carried thereto. He used to say, 
that without preparation for prayer, a person 
resembled one who endeavoured to fill a broken 
vase with a precious liquor, and that the best 
sign of loving God was to be attentive while con- 
versing with him. For his part, he omitted no 
means to free himself from distractions during 
this holy exercise. When reciting the divine 
office, he used to pronounce between each psalm 
some little aspiration, as, " Heavenly Father, 
give me the good Spirit 1" and experienced great 
advantage from it. On some occasions, at the 
commencement of each canonical hour, lie pro- 
nounced ten times the holy name of Jesus and 
Mary, to preserve the remembrance of them 
while reciting it. At other times he commenced 
the office by the consideration of some stage of 
our Lord's Passion, and as he proceeded, he in- 
creased so much in the sentiment of these dolo- 
rous mysteries, that when he reached the ninth 
aour, he felt, in a certain degree, that anguish 
which our blessed Lord felt in giving up the 
ghost. 

He considered it a point of great importance, 
especially for the novices, to choose a quiet and 
retired place to recite the office. He recom- 
mended to them to set before them interiorly the 
saints whom they commemorated therein, and to 
consider attentively the words of the psalms, les- 
sons, &c, that they might taste the delicious 
manna contained in them. He used to tell them 



24 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



that after adhering to the following rules, they 
might reasonably excuse the distractions * they 
suffered in prayer- 1st, When the time for 
making it came, to put a stop to all other consi- 
derations, and reflect for a moment what they 
were going to do. 2n*d, To make a compact with 
themselves to be attentive till such a psalm was 
said, and then another, till all were finished. 
3rd. To endeavour to bring from the office the 
spirit of devotion, and to try to preserve it in their 
usual occupations. 

He learned by experience what St. Basil has 
advanced, that the principal cause of distractions 
in prayer, was the want of due attention to the 
presence of God, who beholds us, and too great 
solicitude about the future. Hence it was that 
he so strongly advised to actuate well before 
praye^ the Divine presence, and to banish all 
other cares from the mind, save that of perform- 
ing well this holy exercise. If the soul be spread 
on a multiplicity of objects, said he, it cannot 
properly give its attention to any ; and he who is 
careful to execute well our Lord's affairs, will be 
afterwards helped by him in his own. But if, by 
failing to do so, a person was distracted, he ad- 
vised them to excite themselves to sorrow for the 
fault, and to endeavour to prevent it on the 
next occasion; and this rather through respect 
for the majesty of Him before whom they prayed, 
than for any annoyance which they themselves 
endured. 

This good father never failed, except when it was 
absolutely impossible, to offer the holy sacrifice 
every day. It would be difficult to describe his 
fervour and devotion in immolating the victim- 
Lamb. He said that our Lord instituted this sa- 
cred mystery, that participating therein by means 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



25 



of Holy Communion, we might be able to say, "The 
kingdom of God is within us." He earnestly 
wished to be present in every place where Jesus 
resides sacramentally, and to dedicate to this ever 
amiable mystery, all the senses of his body and 
powers of his soul. Once in assisting at a procession 
of this Blessed Sacrament at Maguncia, he said, 
that it was a singular mercy of our Lord to give 
Himself thus to men, since every one could honour 
him ; some by their voices, others by the har- 
monious sounds with which they filled the air: 
these by the rich tapestries which they prepared 
for the occasion, and those by the flowers with 
which they strewed the way. 

When preparing for the Holy Sacrifice, he had 
recourse to St. John Baptist, who prepared the 
Jews for Christ. He said that a person who ap- 
proaches the holy table with a conviction of sin, 
is like a slave who intrudes himself into the pre- 
sence of his offended master, without having ap- 
peased his anger. 

This good father received from God very sen- 
sible consolations. He said that they helped to 
lighten the burden of the cross, and were some- 
times given in reward of having borne it well. But, 
like most servants of God, he was tried by dry- 
ness and aridity, particularly during the entire of 
one year. He accepted this trial from the hand 
of God, as designed to show him more clearly his 
own miseries, to excite him to serve Him with 
more fervour, and to teach him in some manner 
what a misfortune it is to be for ever separated 
from the Sovereign Good, since a temporary 
banishment from him occasions such anguish. 
To console himself in these trials, he used to 
think how our Lord, for a long time, concealed 
the splendour of his Divinity; how often tho 



26 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Blessed Virgin was deprived of his company 
during his earthly mission, and the like. He 
used to say that the best means for preserving or 
obtaining divine consolations, was to renounce 
human ones, for the latter often deprived us of the 
former. One day, in Holy Week, having begged 
of our Lord to mitigate the great interior anguish 
he endured, he heard him say interiorly: " Why 
now, my son, would you seek to come down from 
the cross whilst living, since I have not descended 
from it till after my death? Rejoice in being 
without consolation, taking care that it be not 
owing to any failure on your part ; suffer coura- 
geously the rebellions of old Adam ; be content, 
though you produce no fruit in souls, and when 
you have done all this, you will experience true 
peace and consolation." The good father obeyed 
this counsel, and ever after endeavoured to pre- 
serve holy joy in the most trying occasions. He 
was a great enemy to sadness and melancholy 
indeed at all times, saying, that of two evils he 
would prefer excessive joy to excessive sadness. 

Deeply impressed with the consideration of the 
application with which our Lord seemed to pre- 
pare during the thirty years of His hidden life, for 
the labours of His mission, by the practice of all 
the virtues, Father Faber continually animated 
himself to advance in the way of perfection. No 
day passed without a new step towards it. He 
considered the following as very powerful means of 
going to God: Great exterior moderation and 
interior peace in action, vigilance over the move- 
ments of the heart, great fervour at the divine 
office, great sorrow at the tribunal of penance, 
great devotion at mass, great piety in his various 
functions, and great zeal in preaching the word 
of God. He had a great devotion to the feasts of 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



27 



the Holy Trinity and to the Annunciation of the 
Blessed Virgin. On these holy feasts he examin- 
ed himself on his observance of the foregoing 
rules, and after thanking God for the graces be- 
stowed on him during the year, animated him- 
self anew to observe them. He used to say, that 
nothing encouraged him so much to serve God as 
the prospect of possessing him eternally. He 
often raised himself in spirit to the celestial 
kingdom, wishing to say with the apostle ; Conver- 
satio nostra in ccelis est ; Our conversation is in 
heaven. 

Knowing that humility is the first qualifica- 
tion for the kingdom of God, he endeavoured 
to acquire it in an eminent degree. Hence, he 
was never elated with the success that crowned 
his labours, nor sought to manifest the great fruit 
he produced in souls ; he attributed it solely to 
God, considering himself but the mere instru- 
ment. He delighted in the meanest offices, and 
chose what was most abject in each employ. 
Once, when in Spain, while hearing the confes- 
sions of poor servants, it occurred to him, that 
his time would be better employed with persons of 
quality, but he repressed the thought so vigorous- 
ly that he never experienced more light or 
strength in abject offices, nor such a desire of 
continuing them. He affirmed that God prepares 
singular recompences for those who, for his love, 
devote themselves to the service of the humble 
and the poor. 

This good father delighted in being reprehended 
publicly and by all persons for his faults. In all 
times and circumstances he exercised humility. 
Thus, in hearing confessions, he considered that 
as a broom, though it cleans up the house, still re- 
mains filthy, so he, after cleansing the interior of 



28 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



God's servants, remained still in his misery and 
defilement. He desired that all the society should 
adopt the same idea. One day that he went to 
the royal chapel in Castile, the porter, not know- 
ing him, shut the door in his face, and very un- 
civilly refused him admittance : the humble father, 
without discovering himself, rejoiced at being so 
treated, and remained outside, considering with 
himself, how badly he had kept the house of his 
soul, allowing the devil to enter by his wicked 
suggestions, and repulsing the Holy Spirit, some- 
times making him knock long and earnestly be- 
fore he gave him admittance. "0 Jesus !" said he, 
on this occasion, " who earnest to thy own without 
being received, and who every day ineffectually 
demandest admittance to our hearts, pardon us by 
thy infinite patience, make this porter keep as 
well the gate of his soul, and grant that none of 
our Society may shrink from humiliations." This 
humility was perfected by love of God and the 
neighbour ; hence, his great zeal for the Divine 
honour and the good of souls. He said that he 
should rather be Peter than John, because the one 
loved while the other was loved; and that he 
would not estimate the loss of his soul so much 
by the torments of helJ, as by the value of the 
precious blood shed in redeeming it. No labour 
seemed great when there was question of collect- 
ing this precious price of our ransom, as is 
evident from the journeys he made and the trials 
he endured for the conversion of souls. His 
patience and mildness in treating with all were 
truly admirable. A young man having promised 
to come to confession to him, twice neglected 
to keep his word, and the third time kept him 
waiting for the space of six hours ; but he con- 
soled himself for the delay, considering how much 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



29 



longer worldlings wait when there is a prospect 
of some temporal advantage. 

Sickness placed no impediment to his zeal; 
it appeared to him that he suffered nothing, so 
great was his fervour. Sometimes, when provided 
with a mule in travelling from one place to ano- 
ther, he gave the beast to his companion and 
made the journey on foot. He thanked our Lord 
for contradictions, being, as he said, the portion 
of the just, and offered them for the conversion of 
his persecutors. He rejoiced at public calamities, 
pestilences, famine, and the like, forasmuch . as 
they excited sinners to repentance ; but he felt at 
the impatience with which many suffered them. 
He delighted in serving in the hospitals, saying it 
was a certain means of being regaled with the 
Divine sweetness. He often begged from door to 
door for the sick poor, invoked their good angels 
to cure and relieve them, and excited the gover- 
nors and physicians of hospitals, those asylums of 
human woes, to the perfect discharge of their duty. 

This good man was most careful in guarding 
against every sort of uncharitableness ; he termed 
aversions an icy chillness, with which the devil 
seeks to destroy in our souls the principle of the 
Christian life. Let us consider the virtues of our 
neighbour, he would say, and be blind to his de- 
fects, and if he does us an injury, let us render him 
a service. One day, while saying mass, the defects 
of some persons having crossed his mind, he at 
once said in himself, If you condemn your neigh- 
bour, God will judge you injustice, and what will 
you then answer Him after your numberless sins? 
He thus finished the sacrifice with great charity 
and peace. Like Moses, he desired to bear the 
burdens of all, to " become an anathema for his 
brethren." Indeed, it gave him real content to 



30 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



suffer for others, and he failed not in employing 
in their favour the miraculous powers conferred 
on him by our Lord, curing many, by only reading 
over them the gospel of St. John, or invoking for 
them the holy name of Jesus. Of this we have 
testimony the most authentic. 

He prayed so fervently for others, that some- 
times he could scarcely finish Mass by reason of 
his tears. He was most zealous for the relief of 
the souls in Purgatory ; their deliverance he deem- 
ed a most charitable work, and he tried to effect 
it, particularly by offering for them the prayers of 
the Church. 

All these virtues of Father Faber were accom- 
panied by a singular prudence. He used to 
arrange at night such employs of the next day 
as were not regulated by the rule, and in their 
performance attended chiefly to these three things : 
1st. Whether what he did was likely to redound 
to the glory of God. 2nd. With what intention 
he was to perform it. 3rd. In what manner it was 
to be performed. His discourse was always of God 
or something connected with his service ; even 
when transacting business he managed to lead his 
hearers to God. He used to say, that those of the 
society ought to leave, as they indeed do, in all 
places the fame of their sanctity. One time, 
passing through Florence, it being winter, he was 
obliged to stop at night in an inn, in which a gang 
of robbers, seventeen in number, had just then put 
up ; he had even to sup at the same table. After 
the repast, being grown warm, they began a most 
licentious conversation, and wondering why the 
Father remained quite silent, asked him what he 
thought .of their discourse. Why, said he in a 
firm tone, and striking the table with his hand, 
I am apprehensive that the judgments of God 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



31 



?„re hanging over and just ready to fall on you. 
The banditti were so struck by these few words, 
that before his departure they confessed their sins 
with evident marks of sorrow, and totally changed 
their lives. 

He effected numberless other conversions ; the 
most obdurate could scarcely resist the spirit 
which spoke in him. He said, that to affect his 
hearers, a preacher should first deeply feel the 
doctrine he announced, and preach it in the same 
sentiment. The spiritual exercises of our holy 
Father Ignatius had a particular efficacy when 
given by Father Faber. Indeed, with much less, 
he effected wonderful changes. Thus a gentle- 
man of Valladolid having heard of the great 
things he did, came to beg he would teach him 
how to pray. The Father, after observing him 
earnestly, bid him meditate on the contradiction 
in these four sentences. " Christ poor, and I 
rich — Christ hungry, and I filled — Christ suffering, 
and I in delight — Christ naked, and I clothed." 
The gentleman, who expected to hear something 
very sublime, was not a little disappointed at the 
simplicity of this instruction ; but one day, soon 
after, being at a banquet with persons of great 
rank, and observing the dainties with which the 
tables were overspread, he remembered the words, 
Christ hungry, &c, and they wrought so power- 
fully upon him, that with tears in his eyes he 
left the entertainment, and went to recount all 
to the good Father and beg of him the spiritual 
exercises, which he made with great fruit and 
advantage. 

St. Ignatius used to say that the exercises, when 
given by Father Peter, produced more fruit than 
in the hands of any other of the Society, and 
surely his testimony is unexceptionable. Indeed, 



32 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



there was no spiritual disease inveterate enough 
to elude the efficacy of his remedies. He received 
the greatest sinners with sweetness, his lips dis- 
tilled honey as it were to gain them to God ; for, 
like St. Francis de Sales, who lived near his time, 
he thought it dangerous to treat them harshly, at 
least in the beginning. He discovered this sweet- 
ness of spirit in his advice to a certain religious 
man. You should imagine, said he, that being a 
living member of the body of your community, 
all your movements should be very measured, lest 
you cause disunion. It is necessary, he would 
say, to preserve peace and charity with all ; and 
this requires us to applaud the ideas, &c. of 
others when not contrary to the divine law ; never 
to condemn them for their defects, lest a heavier 
judgment fall upon ourselves; never to contradict 
them obstinately or show a preference of our own 
opinion ; and if at any time the least dispute arise, 
to put an end to it instantly, to seek an immedi- 
ate reconciliation, according to the advice of the 
apostle, " Let not the sun go down on your anger." 

Reverence the superiors, said he, on other occa- 
sions, always speak well of them ; and be mild and 
affable to your equals. If raised to the superi- 
ority, strive to advance those under your care, 
remembering the strict account you must render 
of your administration. 

Our father's love of regularity and attention to 
religious observance was singular, having to treat 
with so many persons, and being obliged to appear 
so often at the court of kings. His spirit of 
poverty too was admirable. He vowed its observ- 
ance previous to the establishment of the Society. 
He generally took up his residence in the worst 
lodging he could find, and lived chiefly on alms. 
When the Queen Donna Maria of Castile, offered 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY", 



33 



to provide for him and the other fathers on coming 
to that kingdom, he absolutely refused it, prefer- 
ring to live poor like Jesus Christ to her great edi- 
fication. Having sometimes on the road experienc- 
ed an apprehension that necessaries would not be 
had in the place to which he happened to be 
journeying, he at once produced contrary acts, 
and to overcome it perfectly resolved to give up 
every year all that he possessed ; as clothes, books, 
food, &c. and that if at any time this were impos- 
sible, by reason of his not having wherewith to 
supply his wants, he begged our Lord to teach 
him what course to pursue, and to preserve in 
him the same love for holy poverty. He frequently 
exercised interior acts of this virtue, lest he 
should grow negligent in its practice ; the more 
it is exercised, said he, even interiorly, the more 
we become enamoured of it. 

But if Father Faber surpassed in any virtue, 
it was that of holy chastity. 

In order to be angelically pure, he endeavoured 
to guard his senses most vigilantly. Coming one 
day from the palace of the king of Portugal, he met 
the retinue of a great duke, who was then at the 
king's levee ; and beholding every one run to get a 
sight of the train, he felt tempted to raise his eyes; 
but instead of doing so, he siipt into a church and 
fixed them on the crucifix, when the temptation 
completely vanished. He thanked our Lord then 
for admitting him to his presence, and allowing him 
to look upon his sacred humanity, which not only 
remedied the disorders of the eyes, but those of 
all the senses. 

One feast of the Presentation of the ever blessed 
Virgin, he resolved never to look at persons of 
the other sex of any age whatever. He treated 
3 



34 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



his body most rigorously, being sometimes six 
days without eating, and at all times taking food 
in very small quantities. When on preaching 
in a place, he was invited to the house of the 
Bishop, or the parish priest, he refused to go, pre- 
ferring to dine on a little hard bread given him 
in alms. He gave an excellent antidote to our 
fathers when obliged to stop at inns, to preserve 
them from the dangers to which they might be 
exposed. This was, on entering, to speak to the 
landlord and his family with zeal and fervour of 
God and salvation; for by thus declaring what 
sort of persons they were, they would impose a 
restraint on that licentiousness which generally 
prevails in these places. He was so deaf to the 
voice of flesh and blood, that he refused to visit 
his friends on passing near the place of his nati- 
vity. But his obedience was still more extraor- 
dinary, since his death was occasioned by the 
exact fulfilment of his superior's commands, as we 
shall now see. 



CHAPTER VII. 

HOLY AND EDIFYING DEATH OF FATHER FABER, 

While our servant of God illumined all Spain 
by his preaching and example, and gained many 
to God, the king of Portugal expressed a wish to 
send him to Ethiopia, in quality of Patriarch, 
but the pope having appointed him his theologian 
in the council of Trent, directed St. Ignatius to 
call him to Rome. Though very ill, the good 
Father at once set out, determined to sacrifice 
his life for holy obedience, and leaving his spiri- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



35 



tual children in great grief for his departure. 
Having taken Valentia in his way, in order to 
visit St. Francis Borgia, then duke of Gandia, 
on arriving at the confines of Castile, he wrote 
the following note : 

" We arrived here (Yalentia) on Thursday in 
Easter week. I cannot say what I thought or felt 
on passing the boundary between this kingdom 
and that of Castile. I thought of the many negli- 
gences I committed there, and how much more I 
might have done for God ; and I imagined that to 
repair them, I ought to be sent to labour there 
again and again. May our Lord pardon me. I 
allude not to the labours, but to the faults. We 
have no rest day or night, yet I taste some conso- 
lation. I know not, if those experience the like 
who have cast off the cross of our Lord." 

Having given the good duke the spiritual exer- 
cises with great fruit, he conceived a lively affec- 
tion for the Society, and determined on founding 
a college of the Fathers in Gandia, of which he 
obliged Father Faber to lay the first stone. 
While there, the good Father was highly favoured 
by the B, Virgin. Being once in prayer before 
an image of hers, which had the eyes cast down, 
they were suddenly raised, and ever after con- 
tinued so. This image wa* thence called, Our 
Lady of the miracle. It is at present in the con- 
vent of the Carmelite nuns at Madrid, and when 
carried in procession in any public calamity, the 
divine assistance has been invariably received. On 
one occasion, this blessed Mother spoke clearly 
and distinctly to the Father. 

From Gandia he proceeded to Italy, and through 
holy obedience he did not defer his entry into the 
capital, though it was then a time (the dog-days) 
very dangerous to strangers, even in perfect 



36 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



health. His infirmity increased so much after 
his arrival, that he only survived a few days, 
dying on the 1st of August, 1547, in the 40th year 
of his age, and the 6th of the Society, by which 
his loss was severely felt. Indeed all Europe 
lamented his death. St. Ignatius, though he 
rejoiced, knowing that his venerable companion 
only passed from temporal labours to eternal re- 
compences, was profoundly afflicted, because in 
this Son, whom " he had begotten in Christ," the 
Society lost, whilst yet in its infancy, a prudent and 
zealous missioner, whose only end was the glory 
of God, and the salvation of souls. To console 
him, our Lord revealed to him that he would give 
him another Faber, which he did in the person of 
St. Francis Borgia, then duke of Gandia. 

In many places where he had been, great 
honours were paid to Father Faber's memory 
when they heard of his decease. Some perceiv- 
ing already the effects of his prayers, and believing 
him in heaven, made great rejoicings. The holy 
rector of Gandia, F. Andrew of Oviedo, who was 
afterwards made Patriarch of Ethiopia, wrote to 
Rome, that a person, evidently under the influence 
of the Holy Ghost, affirmed that Father Faber 
enjoyed the beatific vision, that his glory was 
admirable, that he • had seen him all full of 
light and environed with splendour, and that ho 
said many and excellent things on the obedience 
of Christ, and the incomparable rewards he pos- 
sessed for having lost his life in the cause of holy 
obedience. But let us give the testimony of the 
great St. Francis de Sales to the virtues of this 
holy man ; writing to one of our Fathers, he says : 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



37 



January 10th , 1612. 

Rev. Father, 

It is time indeed, that I return you the holy 
life of our venerable Father Faber; I was too 
conscientious to transcribe it, because you spoke of 
it as a thing yet reserved by the Society. I would 
like greatly to have a copy of the history of so 
holy a person, whom I have so many reasons to 
love ; besides, I cannot retain particular details, 
but only a general recollection of things. I hope 
the Society may publish this life ; though brief, 
it will abundantly give the cream of devotion and 
the honey of piety. Good Mr. Faber, the physi- 
cian here, has lately discovered in a bureau, a 
letter of his holy namesake, which I have had the 
happiness to venerate ; I have also visited the 
little chapel in his honour. Continue, Rev. 
Father, to pray for me, who am your affectionate 
brother and servant, 

Geneva. Francis B. 



38 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



ST. IGNATIUS BEFORE THE ALTAR 
AT MONTSERRAT. 

When St. Ignatius, founder of the holy Society 
of Jesus, devoted himself to the service of God, 
he signalized it by hanging up his sword before 
the altar of our Lady at Montserrat : the following 
beautiful lines have been written to commemorate 
the circumstance, and may serve as a suite to the 
life of his first companion and faithful imitator. 

O God ! how beautiful the ways, 
How sweet the potent love that wins 
Thy chosen children from the pain, 
Tho' seeming pleasure, of their sins. 
Ignatius there, before thy shrine ! 
Renowned, if gallant deeds could speak, 
And see ! Oh from his melting eye, 
The tear-drop trickles down his cheek. 

Short time ago, that dauntless eye, 
Could glisten o'er a bloody field ; 
And hosts, even tho' he stood alone, 
Might rouse, but could not make him yield. 
And now he weeps ! — Lord, 'tis thy voice, 
That voice* whose thunder quells the deep, 
That voice t which breaks the cedar's pride; 
That voice now makes Ignatius weep. 

That voice has whispered to his heart, 
And smote its pride with force so sweet ; 

* Vox Domini super aquas : Dens Majestatis intonuit 
f Vox Domini Confringentis cedros, &c. &e. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 

And here, in pilgrim's garb, he comes, 

To lay his glory at thy feet. 

To make Thee his, and his all Thine, 

To change earth's warfare for thine own ; 

To conquer by thy word, and bind 

A world in triumph to thy throne. 

O more than glorious lot of thine 

Thou happy man! well may'st thou yield 

That stainless sword, which often proved 

Thy valour in the battle field. 

Well may'st thou hang it up, to grace 

The shrine of Him who gave it might, 

A trophy to the God of Hosts, 

That mortal never wore in fight. 

A holier voice bespeaks thee now, 

Than monarch's call, or battle's cry; 

A holier aim shall guide thine arm, 

A holier ardour light thine eye. 

Go forth! — A world shall hear thy voice, 

The shield that's o'er thee is divine, 

Thy banner's motto be the name 

Of Him whose glory fills that shrine.* 

That name — no empty badge — shall stamp 

Its impress on a heroic band, 

Formed by thyself, to bear its light 

To many a dark and distant lana. — 

The impress of the zeal which took 

A name so sweet for man unsought ; 

The lasting impress of the Cross, 

The price at which that name was bought. 



*Jesu-ite, Society of Jesus. 



40 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



0 God ! — from out a "bursting heart 
Hear one poor prayer — 'tis all I ask; 
Give me, with zeal like his to live 
A partner in his glorious task. — • 
Give then to earth, what earth esteems, 
Give others honour, riches, fame ; 
The treasure / desire is Thee, 
My badge of honour is Thy name. 

January 20th s 1837. 



LINES ON THE DEATH OF ST. 
FRANCIS XAVIER. 

Written December 1st, 1838. 

" Being much weakened by his fever, he retired 
into the vessel, which was the common hospital of 
the sick, that he might die in poverty. But the 
tossing of the ship having given him an extraor- 
dinary headache, and hindering him from apply- 
ing himself to God as he desired, he requested 
on the following day to be again set on shore, 
which was accordingly done. Being exposed on 
the sand to a piercing north wind, they through 
pity removed him to a hut open on all sides. 

sf?" ?fc ^ ^ 3fc vfc 

" His countenance was serene, and his soul enjoy- 
ed a perpetual calm. Sometimes in his delirium 
he talked of God, at other times, he raised his 
eyes to heaven, or fixed them on his crucifix; at 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAFHY. 



41 



length, on the 2nd of December, transported with 
heavenly joy, he sweetly gave up the ghost." 

Life of St F. X. } by F. Bouhours, 8. J. 
0 earth, behold him here ! 

The light that lit these eyes seems scarcely fled ; 
His lips still seem as burdened with a prayer, 
But, ah ! he's dead. 

He's dead! — alas, he's dead! 
O God ! how precious such a death as his ! 
To Thee how full of praise — to us of dread — 
To him of bliss. 

"Now is his glory's height ; 
Ne'er did it beam so brilliantly as now: 
Never did life shed such a brilliant light 
Upon his brow ! 

Here, on this island strand, 
The scene of his last glorious works, he dies ! 
The ocean, that oft crouched beneath his hand, 
Before him lies, 

Rolling beneath his feet, 
As if in homage it would own his sway ; 
Kissing where he had trod, as if to greet 
His lifeless clay. 

Peaceful his sleep to-day ; 

See Heaven's own calm is beaming thro' his smile, 
Lighting, with its mysterious saintly ray 
This lonely isle.* 

Land of his dying love ! t 
Land of his fevered dream and calm intent ; 
Oh ! that it had been given thee to prove 
That love's extent I 



* Sancian 



* China, 



42 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



And orphaned India weep ; 

Thou who didst prove him, can thy tears be dried ? 
Where wilt thou find a father now, to keep 
Watch by thy side ? 

To bear thee on his breast, . 
To watch thy tottering footsteps lest thou fall, 
To lead thee sweetly to thine only rest, 
Thy God and all ? 

Lord, India calls for aid ! 

He too who loved her stands before thy throne, 
Pity her for the sake of him who made 
Her griefs his own. 



43 



THE EDIFYING LIFE OF MADAME DE 
ST. BEUVE. 

FOUNDRESS OE THE URSULINES AT FARIS . 

From the Annals of thai holy Institute. 



CHAPTER I. 

HER BIRTH AND AMIABLE DISPOSITIONS, &C. 

The virtuous Madame Magdalen of St. Beuve, 
the honour of her sex and the model of the fe- 
males of her day, was born about the year of our 
salvation 1562. Her father was John L'Huillier, 
Lord of Boullencor and president of the Chamber 
of Accounts at Paris, and her mother was Lady 
Renee Nicolai, descended from the first families 
in the kingdom. She had nine brothers and 
eight sisters, all of whom were provided for suit- 
ably to their birth ; one alone became a religious. 
The noble extraction of our Magdalen was the 
least of her advantages; in her tenderest years, 
her amiable dispositions, together with her singu- 
lar beauty, endeared her to all. Her mother, 
being very prudent and well disposed, diligently 
sowed in the heart of her daughter, the seeds of 
every virtue, which brought forth fruit an hun- 
dred fold. 

Magdalen held all the vices in detestation, par- 
ticularly that of lying. As she advanced in age, 
her excellent endowments appeared to more ad- 
vantage, and her lively turn of mind, sound judg- 
ment, affability, and prudence, which were evino 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



ed at every step, gained her many suitors, who all 
demanded her in marriage. After consulting God, 
she ga re her hand with the consent of her parents 
to ^iaude le Roux, Lord of St. Beuve, counsel- 
lor of the King, being then nineteen years old. 
Heaven poured its choicest blessings on the new 
spouses ; their union was so perfect, that it seemed 
nothing but duration was wanting to complete 
their bliss; when God, holily jealous of the heart 
of Madame, snatched away her husband. She 
felt his death most sensibly, but in the height of 
her grief, even before his interment, recognizing 
the inconstancy of all things temporal, she re- 
solved never to marry again 3 and no more to at- 
tach herself to one of whom she was liable to be 
deprived. Her perseverance in this good purpose, 
notwithstanding the pressing solicitations which 
she received to the contrary, fully proves that it 
was not owing to the first impulses of grief, but 
was the effect of a divine inspiration, as we shall 
see. 



CHAPTER II. 

HER CONDUCT IN HER WIDOWHOOD. 

Madame de St. Beuve was only twenty-two 
years old when she lost her husband. As she 
had no family, and had conducted her household 
with great economy, though without departing 
from what was suitable to her rank, she acquired 
great esteem, which increased when it was known 
that she was determined in future to live in the 
world only to serve God. Her reputation ran so 
high, that it was said at Paris, it was only neces- 
sary to change a letter of her name, to be called, 
what she was in effect, The holy Widow, Veuve in 
French signifying widow. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



45 



About this time King Henry IV. entered Paris, 
after the destruction of the league. Having met 
Madame St. Beuve in an assembly of ladies, 
being impelled by her zeal for the Catholic faith, 
she advanced towards him, being more courageous 
than the rest, and respectfully said, "That she ac- 
knowledged him for her king, but did not sup- 
pose that the Count de Brissac, who had put the 
city in his possession, would ever have proyed a 
traitor." His majesty pardoned this freedom as 
the effect of her zeal, and replied, " 1 know you have 
always been against me ; however, I do not love 
you less." Taking advantage of this courtesy, she 
solicited the pardon of some persons who had 
reason to fear the vengeance of the king, and 
who had taken refuge in her house, which he 
granted in the kindest manner. He showed on- 
some occasions a great admiration of her virtue. 

Her confessor, Father J. G-ontery, S. J. having 
advised her to enter religion, she shut herself up 
at first in the Abbey of Chelles, and afterwards in 
that of St. Peter at Rheims, as being more retired. 
After some years she returned to Paris, where she 
was more esteemed than ever. When the king- 
met her in the streets, he stopped his carriage to 
salute her, and even informed himself of her domes- 
tic affairs. Having one day asked her what new 
improvement she had made in her villa, such a one, 
she replied. "Is it like mine?" said his majesty. 
"No, sire," said she, "there is as much difference 
between them as between your majesty and me.' 
She often adroitly raised his mind to the things' 
conducive to his salvation, so that once he said to 
her, "It is very reasonable that you feel this ten- 
der devotion, who have been educated in the true 
faith : but how can I experience it, brought up as I 
have been in the errors of Calvinism, and educa- 



46 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY*. 



ted in the profession of arms?" To this she judi- 
ciously replied, "If your majesty cannot have the 
sweetness of devotion, you can have its strength, 
which will be equally meritorious." 

Madame St. Beuve passed in the court and in 
the city for the wonder of her age ; all in her 
regard conformed to this advice of the Apostle, 
6i Honour widows who are truly widows. " She often 
went to the palace of the Louvre, to authorise her 
good works by the patronage of the queen, and 
princesses, and to induce them to perform the 
same, and was graciously received by their majes- 
ties and the whole court. One day that the 
young duke of Orleans, brother of Lewis 13th, 
was making a great noise in the queen's chamber, 
he was quieted only by the appearance of Madame 
St. Beuve. 

Her house was resorted to by all sorts of per- 
sons. Some, as Prelates, Lords, Princesses, con- 
sulted her on the most important affairs, and 
the poor recurred to her as their best friend and 
powerful advocate. They always had access to 
her ; she spoke to them most kindly, and wrote in 
their favour to her relations and friends, when 
unable to assist them personally. The greatest 
princesses delighted in associating with her, and 
in learning from her to perform heroic deeds. 
Her horror of slander caused her to avoid the 
company of such as were not virtuous, and some- 
times to abstain totally from innocent diversions. 

Madame contributed often to the conversion of 
heretics, by means of F. Gontery and Doctor 
Asseline ; and a young girl, who had resolved to 
renounce her wicked course, having prayed her 
to give her relief and protection, the virtuous 
widow most liberally provided her with both. 

Her confessoi*, F. Gontery, taught her how to 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



47 



make meditation and the other exercises of the 
spiritual life; and that she might join the merit 
of humiliation to her pious deeds, he sometimes 
was very severe, and greatly mortified her. Behold 
an instance. One time, while preaching before 
the king, having as usual paid little compliment 
to the effeminacy of a court life, the sermon being 
ended, his majesty approached Madame, and said, 
" St. Beuve, tell thy confessor that I entreat him 
to love and spare me a little, and to whisper his 
reprimands into my ear always." The first time 
F. Gontery met her, having asked her if she did 
not feel a secret satisfaction at this public testi- 
mony of the friendship of the king, she acknow- 
ledged she did, which drew upon her bitter and 
humiliating reproaches, but these she bore ex- 
tremely well. She was most submissive to this 
guide, did nothing without his approbation, and 
during the fourteen years she survived him, she 
continued to follow the plan of conduct he had 
given her. 



CHAPTER III. 

MADAME DE ST. BEUVE UNDERTAKES TO ESTABLISH THE 
PIRST MONASTERY OF THE URSULINES, AND SUCCEEDS. 

Wishing to render this chaste widow the mo- 
ther of so many religious, and to render her the 
principal instrument of a work so considerable as 
the establishment of a new order in his church, 
our Lord inspired her with a great zeal for the 
honour of his divine Majesty, and the most san- 
guine desires of contributing thereto. For many 
years she had these general desires without par- 
ticularly knowing the divine will. The pious acts 
which she exercised every day not contenting her, 



48 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



she opened her mind to her confessor on the matter. 
Seeing her undetermined, he desired her to re- 
commend all to God, and resign herself entirely to 
his will. She did so most submissively, and from 
that time relinquished all that seemed superfluous 
in her dress and furniture. 

Some time after, while conversing with P. 
Lancelot Marin, master of the Jesuits' noviceship 
at Paris, she communicated her desires to him, 
saying, that being incapable of doing much, they 
only served to torment her, at the same time she 
asked whether he saw any means of stemming the 
torrent of iniquity which every day increased, and 
if she could in any manner contribute thereto. 
To this, the father replied, " I shall answer your 
question by a simple comparison with which God 
just now inspires me. Figure to yourself a very 
fine apple become rotten, which it is necessary to 
put in its first state ; this cannot be done ex- 
cept by extracting the little seeds and planting 
them in a good soil, when, after being cultivated 
properly, they will produce trees, which will bear 
as beautiful apples as the parent stock. Thus, it 
seems to me, that to renew the corrupt world, it is 
necessary to begin with the young. Our Father, 
St. Ignatius, thought so, and hence he destined 
our Society for the instruction of little boys. It 
would be a most laudable enterprise to establish 
the like in Paris for the education of little girls. 
Transplanted from the bad soil of the world, and 
cultivated by pious instruction, they would go forth, 
as from a nursery, to bear in their families the 
fruits of virtue. Well regulated families would 
reform cities and provinces, and in a short time 
the world would be renewed, at least, poor Catho- 
lics would not live in ignorance, which is the 
cause of so many vices." 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 49 

This discourse beamed such light on the mind 
of the pious widow, that she immediately thought 
of her future foundation, and soon after set to 
execute it, our Lord having supplied her with the 
means. Just then, Madame Acarie, since the B. 
Mother of the Incarnation, was labouring to estab- 
lish the Carmelites in Paris ; and when, out of the 
number of young women whom she collected, she 
had selected such as were most proper for that in- 
stitute, she employed them in teaching little girls 
gratuitously. Foreseeing the good that an order 
instituted for this end would operate in the 
Christian world, she had no rest until she spoke 
of it to Madame St. Beuve, who was her near 
relation, and prevailed on her to become the Foun- 
dress. Provided they became religious, the latter 
acceded, but all was to be kept secret until matters 
were disposed. In the mean time, having con- 
sulted many wise and holy persons, they approved 
the design, and Madame St. Beuve devoted her- 
self to it so earnestly, that she provided a lodging 
near the place destined for the monastery, which 
was situate in the Fauxbourg of St. James, and 
expended immense sums in enlarging the building 
which the daughters of St. Ursula inhabited. 
This order, which was established in Italy by St. 
Angela anno 1537, was not at first erected into a 
religious congregation, the members of it content- 
ing themselves with simple vows without being 
obliged to inciosure ; but St. Charles Borromeo, 
who greatly favoured it, procured its confirmation 
of Gregory 13th in 1572. Several houses of the 
order were already established in Italy before it 
extended to France. Still they were not cloister- 
ed nuns until Madame de St. Beuve 's time. When 
the convent above alluded to was enlarged, she 
had her little colony to take possession. Twelve 

4 



50 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



chosen from amongst them to be the foundresses 
of this holy institute, received the habit on the 
11th November, feast of St. Martin, 1611, that day- 
being the anniversary of the first convent, and the 
birth-day of the holy institute of St. Ursula. 

The pious foundress in time greatly enlarged 
the edifice. Besides providing for it out of her 
own patrimony, she procured large sums for that 
purpose from the princesses of her acquaintance, 
whom she often introduced into the monastery. 
She managed all things so prudently, that the 
house flourished and gave wonderful edification ; 
it was now seen that the Ursulines were fitly 
denominated the mothers of Christianity, the mis- 
tresses of the faith, the imitators of the Apostles, 
the co-helpers of the doctors, the disciples of the 
Incarnate wisdom, and the visible angels of fe- 
male youth. 

Anxious that this first monastery might be im- 
bued with the true spirit of the institute,' and 
thus communicate it*to so many others, Madame 
St. Beuve, after consulting the Superiors, selected 
the Jesuit fathers from all others as its directors 
and spiritual guides. The end of both orders 
being so much alike, she knew they were better 
qualified to superintend the Ursulines. 

The first sisters having spent their two years' 
novice ship, made their solemn profession on the 
feast of the Presentation of the glorious Virgin 
Mary. Three weeks after the vigil of the Imma- 
culate Conception of the blessed Mother of God, 
to whom the monastery was dedicated, she mani- 
fested her protection in the most signal manner. 
While the Community were at matins, a novice 
was taken so ill, that they were obliged to send 
at once for a physician. On arriving at the gate, 
he wrote a billet, which, having presented to the 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



51 



portress, it was found that six robbers had plotted 
to enter the monastery during the night. The 
foundress being informed of it, sent at once to 
the Queen mother, who having ordered a guard 
during the night, some of the robbers were 
taken, and the rest put to flight, so that the 
nuns were left in security; and the terrors of 
the night were converted into the rejoicings of 
the morning, particularly, as the novice's malady 
disappeared the moment the physician entered. 

Because of the great good resulting from this 
establishment, the devil employed many other 
artifices against it, even before it was completed. 
He caused some to enter there, with the most 
pernicious designs. Among others a novice, whose 
bad conduct caused her to be dismissed, said in# 
going out, that the devil had supplied her with a 
certain ingredient to poison the religious; but 
that contrary to custom, she had been prevented 
on the appointed day to serve in the kitchen, and 
thus the diabolical design was frustrated. It 
would be impossible to detail the many stratagems 
employed by the enemy of all good to disturb 
this monastery, and those who supported it, par- 
ticularly the Foundress ; but being the work of 
God, it triumphed over his wicked efforts, and 
became a nursery of saints. 

As holy souls, forgetting their first good works, 
always desire to do more for God, Madame St. 
Beuve considering that impiety was always on 
the increase, resolved after a strong inspiration 
to wect a second chapel in the convent, where 
her religious would in perpetuity honour God, the 
Blessed Virgin, and the Saints, in reparation of 
the insults they received in the world. To render 
the place more venerable, she procured quantities 
of pious relics, which was very easy, because of 



52 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



the esteem In which she was held. The authen- 
tication of them may be still seen in the archives 
of the chapel. The reigning Queen, Anne of Aus- 
tria, gave her a little bone of St. Anne, enchased 
in gold and vermillion, and Queen Mary of Medicis 
presented her with a little relic of the crown of 
thorns, which she had received from the royal cha- 
pel at Paris. These two princesses conferred on 
her many marks of friendship, and gave her an 
audience when all others were denied. The pious 
widow caused it to redound to the glory of God. 
She obtained from the bishop of Paris, a permis- 
sion for her religious to celebrate a festival annu- 
ally, in honour of all the Saints, especially those 
whose relics they possessed, without speaking of 
fthe daily Saluts, and particular devotions, con- 
tinued ever since — this place being, after the holy 
tabernacle, the constant resource of the religious. 
The holy foundress found there her paradise, and 
continued near the door in prayer for hours 
together. 

CHAPTER IV. 

SHE PROCURES TWO OTHER FOUNDATIONS, &C 

Among all other religious orders, Madame was 
particularly attached to the Jesuits, because their 
end is the salvation of souls. She preserved a 
list of all those of the Society who came to Paris, 
and if they failed to visit her, she reproached them 
in her own amiable manner. In their holy inter- 
course, she drew her sentiments of devotion. F. 
Surin, who was the first that proposed to her the 
institution of the Ursulines, some time after inti- 
mated to her that the novices of the Society 
were greatly inconvenienced in the Professed 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



53 



house of Paris, and that a separate establishment 
was necessary for them. I believe, Mademoiselle, 
said he, in conclusion, that God will serve himself 
of you, to provide us a noviceship. I would esteem 
myself very happy, Father, replied she, to be useful 
to so holy a company, and thenceforward she la- 
boured to accomplish his desire. But all her efforts 
were ineffectual, until the following incident took 
place. F. Gontery having preached the Advent 
of 1609, in the parish of St. Gervais, the king and 
all his court heard him on Christmas day. The 
sermon was particularly fine, so that all Paris was 
in admiration, above all M. du Tillet baron de La 
Bussiere ; for Madame St. Beuve being to visit 
him a few days after, he spoke in the highest 
terms of the preacher, and knowing that she was 
interested for him, offered to serve him in any 
manner, and begged her to tell him how he could 
make himself useful to the Father. Madame felt 
at once that the hour was come for the establish- 
ment of the Jesuit's noviceship ; so having told M. 
du Tillet that F. Gontery desired nothing for him- 
self, but that a way of obliging him was to found a 
house of the Society, where religious might be 
trained one day to become Jesuit Fathers, he on the 
spot took measures for its establishment, on this 
condition only ; that his name should not be men- 
tioned, that it might be in that quarter of 
Paris which he liked, and that she should be named 
the foundress. For some time they piously deba- 
ted on this last condition, but Madame was at 
length obliged to accede. 

After having acquainted Father Gontery with 
the pleasing news, she sought a building suited to 
her design, and prayed our Lord to manifest where 
He would be served. After seeing several places, 
ghe at length came to the Hostel de Mezieres, in 



54 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



the Fauxbourg of St. Germain, which contained 
a house and garden, with a very large stable. In 
regarding the latter, she said, I think our Lord 
wishes to be served here ; He choose to be born 
in a stable. The house being purchased, the 
fathers took possession of it the 25th of March, 
1610, at the request of Madame, because of her 
devotion to the Incarnation of the Son of God ; to 
which mystery the little chapel of the house at her 
desire was in some manner dedicated, until the 
church should be built. She always continued her 
liberalities towards the Fathers, furnishing the 
church and sacristy, and providing them with 
other necessaries. 

Madame St. Beuve also founded the Ursulines 
of the street St. Avoye, in Paris, in union with 
the first convent ; and not to yield to any person 
in greatness of soul, no more than in virtue, she 
gave up her right of foundress to her niece, 
Madame Gabriel de Choutarenne, spouse of M. 
Feydean. She conducted to this new house four 
professed Religious of the Fauxbourg of St. James, 
as she afterwards led those who founded the monas- 
teries of Pontoise and St. Denys, to which estab- 
lishments she contributed as much as possible by 
her cares and charity. 

Although this amiable widow had always passed 
for most holy, it was principally since her first 
foundation that her virtues appeared with most 
lustre. Her reputation increased in a corner of 
a Fauxbourg, in proportion as she thought of in- 
creasing the glory of God. When Urban the 8th 
sent his nephew into France in quality of legate, 
he commanded him to visit on his part Madame 
St. Beuve. She received him in her little retreat 
with great respect, and procured his blessing for 
her dear Ursulines. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



55 



But she preferred the favour of heaven to that 
of earth, and knew as well how to render her 
homage to God, as her duty to man. At prayer 
her countenance was so amiable, that it inspired 
all who gazed on it with devotion. 

One All Saints' night, while praying in her 
chamber for the souls of the deceased, having 
several times reproved her waiting-woman for 
praying in a negligent posture near the fire, she 
perceived her to receive a stroke from an invisible 
hand, which she felt so much that she needed no 
farther reprehension. 

Madame every day recited the little office of 
our blessed Lady, and had regular hours for her 
mental and vocal prayers. She often made use 
of pious ejaculations, but not being able to retain 
continually the actual presence of God, she made 
use of pious convocations with him. Among others 
she promised our Lord, after Communion, that 
every time she drew a grain from a bracelet of 
seven grains which she wore on her arm, she 
meant to form a distinct act of each of the seven 
principal virtues. # 

On every side of the little oratory in which she 
retired, she caused to be written pious aspirations 
from the holy scripture ; that wherever she cast 
her eyes, she might conceive good thoughts. She 
often said, that while the monastery was building, 
she prayed in its different apartments that God 
might never be offended in them. 

We cannot describe her respect for holy things; 
the least ceremonies of the church, the words of 
holy scripture, and all that regarded the worship 
of God, held a high place in her estimation. She 
could not bear to see them treated with little 
respect. Having learned that the gardener of the 
convent had sown some seed in an oratory, which 



56 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



she had caused to be built in the garden, on the 
model of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, she 
was afflicted even to tears, and obtained of the 
Superior that a procession might be made, to 
repair the irreverence. At the top of this oratory 
is a grotto in honour of St, Magdalen, which fur- 
nishes a further proof of the liberality of the pious 
foundress ; who caused it to be ornamented, and 
procured for it a representation in stone-work of 
her illustrious patroness. But these are but few 
of her works ; we shall see more and wonderful 
things in the following chapter. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE VIRTUES OF MADAME ST. BEUVE. 

The pious widow regarding the religious as the 
spouses of Christ, entertained for them the 
greatest respect. Hence, if she had a word to say 
to the Community, she was seized with a sort of 
trembling, which astonished her so, that she used 
to say to them, I can easily speak to you in par- 
ticular, and regard you all as my daughters ; but 
when I behold you assembled, you all seem so 
many angels, and I feel an awe that I never expe- 
rienced before the great of the world ; I could 
speak with more assurance to the senate, than to 
your community. She lived in perfect intelli- 
gence with the superioresses, paid them great 
deference, and never passed before them. 

She never interfered with the chapter affairs 
of the religious, though solicited by many ; know- 
ing well that the privileges of a foundress are 
only granted to uphold a monastery, and not to 
trouble it by an unjust usurpation of authority, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



57 



Sho was very solicitous for the maintenance of 
good order, and endeavoured to preserve it. Thus, 
she never asked permission for more than two 
persons to enter together, that she might keep 
them with her, lest they might go and hinder the 
religious in their observances. She caused her 
nuns to form acquaintance with some religious of 
eminent sanctity, by whom they might be edified ; 
such as Madame de Beauvillier, Abbess of Mont- 
martre, and Madame de Gondy, Abbess of Poissy. 

For some time Madame St. Beuve lodged in 
the Ursuline enclosure, going out when she pleased 
to visit such relatives as were not content with 
seeing her at the grate ; but as she perceived 
that by going out often she might inconvenience 
the monastery, she left it at the expiration of a 
year, and took up her abode in a house contiguous, 
having a parlour towards the nuns' quarter, and 
a door through which she entered the convent; 
dining almost every Sunday and festival in the 
refectory, and spending the recreation with her 
dear daughters till the bell tolled, when she re- 
tired until the Vespers hour^at which she attend- 
ed and chaunted in choir. When they came to 
this verse of the 112th Psalm, Qui habitare facit 
sterilem in domo matrem filiorum laetantem, who 
maketh the barren to dwell in her house a joyful 
mother of children, she felt so great spiritual 
joy that she could not dissemble it. She used 
to say, that these words sensibly touched her, 
seeing that the number of her spiritual children, 
which every day increased, would in time become 
innumerable. 

Her discourse was so pious, and her manners 
so amiable, that she seemed to have the key to all 
hearts, and to be able to make herself feared or 
loved as she pleased. She cherished a parti- 



58 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



cular tenderness for her eldest daughters, the 
religious of the Fauxbourg of St. James : She 
carried them all in her heart, and quitted her own 
affairs, and even her repasts, to give satisfaction 
even to the novices. Though she had a particular 
inclination for such nuns as were most useful, in 
the monastery, nevertheless, all received from her 
marks of kindness and affability. Learning that 
a poor sick sister suffered some inconvenience in a 
room in which she had been put, she immediately 
gave her her own for it, though it was most wretched. 
As a tender mother, she bewailed all the evils of 
her children ; even in the mortifications necessary 
to form them to religion, they experienced the 
tenderness of her heart. 

Even by nature she was disposed for the designs 
of God in her regard, having a great tenderness 
for children. She delighted in conversing with 
them, and gave excellent advices to the Ursulines 
for their education, as to inspire them with a great 
reverence at prayer, a love of modesty and truth, 
recommending them particularly not to tolerate 
lying, never to say things to them differently from 
what they were, andSiever to treat them roughly 
in their simplicities and childish discourse, but to 
lead them mildly to reason. How will you form 
their minds., she would say, if you deprive them 
of the liberty of declaring their ideas ? She never 
suffered that her relations, who were in the class, 
should be privileged beyond the other pensioners, 
and often joyfully exercised the functions of an 
TJrsuline, teaching the children to read, to sew, to 
sing, while the nuns were engaged. She testified 
so much kindness for them, that the whole class 
loved her, and endeavoured to please her by assum- 
ing, the moment they saw her, that deportment 
which she recommended. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



59 



She was not less cherished bj the little extern 
scholars, who were already near two hundred in 
number. Sometimes she visited them, and show- 
ed them to her friends as her most precious jewels. 
One time, having led Father Gontery to the 
door near which they passed processionally, and 
asked him what he thought of the services ren- 
dered to so great a number of poor children ; 
he replied, quite amazed, that much virtue 
was necessary to continue the labour attached to 
it. "Father," said the pious widow, "I hope that 
God will always provide subjects fit for the insti- 
tute ; and it is my wish that those most poor in the 
goods of fortune, may be preferred to the rich and 
noble, provided they have a better vocation, and 
more virtue and talent to serve the order. " 

To speak of her immense liberalities to the 
poor, it is quite enough to use this expression, 
which she frequently repeated, that she could not 
bear money or sadness. But we shall detail some 
instances of her charity during the last twenty 
years of her life. Having charged some persons 
in the Fauxbourg to notice her of the wants and 
necessities of those who. dwelt there, she was one 
day apprised that a poor soldier lay at extremity. 
After having sent him relief, and procured his 
reception of the sacraments, she continued to 
inquire after him, but was always told he was 
still at the point of death. It immediately struck 
her that he would not continue to languish if he 
had not been ill through want, and thereupon she 
sent him her own supper, which was then prepar- 
ed, and continued to supply him with good nour- 
ishment, which finally restored him, so that he 
was able in some time to come and thank his 
protectress. She often served others in a similar 
manner. 



60 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



She portioned many poor girls who were in 
danger of losing their virtue, giving to some 
twenty crowns, to others more or less according 
to their necessity, or the money which she might 
have, for often she drained her purse, so that she 
was obliged to seek something else rather than dis- 
miss them empty. One night she gave one of her 
silver trinkets to a poor person; another time, touch- 
ed with compassion for a poor artisan reduced to 
beggary, she solicited a person in his favour, and 
obtained for him an alms of one hundred crowns. 
Having sent for him, she inquired if he was atten- 
tive to his religious duties, to which he replied 
that he was, whatever happened, "Well, my 
good friend, ,, said she, "since you fear God, 
behold what he sends you, you see how he loves 
those who serve him." The poor man could 
scarcely believe her until she put the money into 
his hands, so great was his amazement. Another 
time, having seen a young boy endeavouring to 
gain his livelihood in serving a tradesman, she 
asked him if he wished to work : and having em- 
ployed him in the monastery, he succeeded so 
well that he became a master mason, and had 
the principal care of the building. In time, he 
became one of the most skilled in his trade at 
Paris, and was never weary in extolling his bene- 
factress. 

In the winter she sent fuel as well as covering 
to poor families. She even provided shrouding 
for the dead. To conclude this point, we shall 
give her own testimony, that the greatest content 
she felt on awaking in the morning was, to know 
that she had something that day to bestow. 

To enable herself to be liberal, and to conform 
more perfectly to Him who, being rich, made Him* 
self poor for us, she retrenched all her superflui- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Gl 



ties. When commencing the foundation of the 
Ursulines, she sold all her plate except a dish, a 
plate, and some spoons, as also her valuable tapes- 
tries, and other rich moveables, and no longer 
clothed herself but with linen, which she herself 
sometimes spun. Some time after she sold her 
carriage, and dismissed most of her servants, after 
having liberally recompensed them. 

This strong woman, according to the scripture 
phrase, eat not her bread in idleness", she always 
usefully employed herself, generally in some work 
for the service of the altar. When she could no 
longer labour at these works, she employed a poor 
girl expressly for embroidering, that she might 
have wherewith to bestow the temples of the 
Lord. 

Our Lord, wishing that a little portion of his 
humiliations should be mingled with the honours 
she received from all parts, permitted that a 
beggar, to whom she was most bountiful, should 
say very injurious things of her; this ingratitude 
sensibly affected her, but she bore it in silence, 
and still continued her charities. 

She could not bear to be called madame, the 
term seemed to her too honourable ; and her 
humility caused her to burn, two years before her 
death, a paper on which she had written her good 
sentiments, and something of her interior, not- 
withstanding the entreaties of the Ursulines. She 
said if she had not destroyed them during life, 
they would be for her a subject of temptation at 
the hour of death. 

She kindly saluted persons of humble birth, 
and entertained a close friendship with them, 
provided they were virtuous. She was very reser- 
ved in speaking of herself, and remained unmoved 
amidst the plaudits bestowed on her. A religious 



62 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



having asked her if she had not formerly had 
some complaisance because of her beauty, she 
candidly confessed that she never had, except one 
night, after having spent the afternoon in com- 
pany with a very deformed lady, she saw in her 
looking-glass how much handsomer she was, 
which caused her some vain joy. She would 
never suffer her likeness to be taken, but the Ursu- 
lines caused it to be done after her death. 

Her modesty was evident in her whole conduct, 
and her sincerity and zeal in defending the truth 
was evinced on all occasions. Queen Anne of 
Austria, when very young, being once in the con- 
vent when a certain princess demanded entrance, 
and wishing she might be denied, told the 
superior to say the key was lost. But the 
good foundress, who was present, said at once 
with a holy and generous liberty, let your majesty 
remember, if she pleases, that for any reason 
whatsoever it is not lawful to tell the smallest 
untruth. This little remonstrance edified the 
queen and all her suite. 

Madame St. Beuve rarely dined abroad. Since 
she established the Ursulines she generally eat 
alone in her little dwelling, and once chanced to 
tell the Ursulines that she did not remember hav- 
ing ever ordered what they would prepare for her 
repasts, nor found fault with what was presented 
to her. This alone is sufficient to convince us of 
the perfection of her virtue ; we shall see how it 
was rewarded in the following chapter. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



G3 



CHAPTER VI. 

DEATH OF MADAME ST. BEUYE. 

The principal earthly advantage enjoyed by 
Madame St. Beuve, was a state of perfect health; 
though extremely sensible of it, she nevertheless 
prepared for death as she advanced in age, and 
that little indispositions noticed her of her end. 
For six months these greatly increased; they gave 
her quantities of remedies, which seemed effectual, 
when suddenly, on the 25th August, a dropsy took 
place, to the amazement of all. The physicians in- 
formed the Ursulines of her danger, and continued 
to attend her. Her malady increasing, she sent 
to beg their prayers, particularly the lay sisters, 
and they, greatly afflicted, besides the devotions 
which were said in common, went in turn to pray 
before the Holy Sacrament, which was exposed 
for this end, on the feast of St. Augustine from 
six o'clock in the morning till seven at night. 
She then seemed better, but at ten o'clock she 
became so ill that the physician said it was time 
for her to get the holy viaticum. Whereupon, 
being asked if it might be deferred till to-mor- 
row, he recommended not to wait a moment. 
Then re-collecting all her strength, she begged 
them to go and bring her the Holy Sacrament, 
which was administered by the vicar of St, James. 
F. Jerome Lallemant, S. J., having been sent for, 
asked her what he could do for her, to which she 
replied, "Offer me to God, and my death also, in 
union with the precious death and passion of his 
dear Son." She afterwards testified her devotion 
to St. Ignatius of Loyola, and having received the 
extreme unction with great sentiments of devo- 
tion, signed her last will with as great presence 
of mind as if she had been in perfect health. 



64 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



The monastery was strangely alarmed on learn- 
ing about midnight that its dearly beloved foun- 
dress drew near her end. The superior having 
sent to know what she and her religious could do 
for her, the holy invalid wept so with tenderness, 
that she could only testify she was at death what 
she had been during life. F. Lallemant endea- 
voured sweetly to raise her mind to God, and ob- 
serving the good order she had put to her affairs, 
said, Let us thank God, Mademoiselle, for having 
fortified you with the holy Sacraments before he 
called you to himself, by the Gloria Patri, &c. 
Some time after, he asked her if things went well 
between her and God. Yes, Father, she replied. 
These were her last words. Having received the 
last benediction, she sweetly passed to our Lord, 
while the father recited the Psalm 121, Lsetatus 
sum in his, &c, at two o'clock in the morning of 
Thursday, 29th August, 1630, aged 68 years, while 
her dear Ursulines were saying in choir the 
prayers of the agonising for her intention. She 
was interred with great solemnity in the middle 
of their great choir under a marble slab. 



G5 



LIFE OF FATHER BALTHASAR ALVAREZ, 

OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Father Balthasar Alvarez was born at Cervera 
in Spain, in the year of our salvation 1533, of 
Antonio Alvarez and Catharine Manrique, both of 
noble extraction. From his infanoy he gave 
signs of that spirit of piety which animated him 
through life, his ordinary amusement being to 
decorate altars, make little crosses, and the like. 
Having acquired at home the first rudiments of 
learning, he was sent to complete his education 
at Alcala. After graduating as master of arts in 
that university, he read theology for two years, 
and with great applause. At this period God 
planted in his soul the seeds of virtue, to produce 
fruit in due time for the good of many. By the 
communication he had with a great servant of 
God, he began to give himself to prayer, and find- 
ing in this holy exercise a great spiritual gust, he 
devoted to it a considerable portion of his time, to 
the great profit of his soul. Spiritual reading 
also was productive in him of immense fruit. 
During the last four years of his studies, he con- 
ceived a great desire to enter into the Society of 
Jesus, as beiug an institute in which he could 
serve God with most security and perfection ; but 
he was held back from gratifying it by the appre- 
hension of displeasing his parents, who signified 
to him in their letters, that being now in the de- 
5 



66 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



cline of life, they expected he would take charge 
of his little sisters. However, the divine light 
"beaming on his soul, soon discovered to him, that 
his obligations to his heavenly Father were much 
stronger than any towards his earthly parents, 
and he began to hope that God, for whose sake he 
abandoned them, would abundantly provide for 
his sisters. He did not as yet, determine what 
institute to embrace. He felt much inclined to 
the Carthusian, as being more conformed to his 
turn for solitude and mortification, but having 
consulted some pious persons, particularly one, 
a relative of his own, he resolved on entering 
the Society of Jesus. Nor was he sorry for hav- 
ing followed their counsel ; on the contrary, he felt 
so satisfied, that passing once near the quarter in 
which one of them lived, he went ten leagues out 
of his way to visit him. 

He entered the Society in the year 1555, and 
on the feast of the Invention of the Holy Cross, 
which prognosticated his love for the sacred in- 
strument of redemption, and the zeal with which 
he would unfold its treasures to men. He was 
then in his 22nd year. The superiors sent him to 
Samancas, the noviceship of the provinces of To- 
ledo and Castile. The fervour of the novices 
assembled there from various parts was extremely 
warm, because their hearts being prepared, the 
Holy Ghost filled them with the new wine fit for 
the conservation of the infant institute. Baltha- 
sar endeavoured to be to all a model of zeal and 
regularity, lest discipline should be relaxed by 
his example, and even then, signalised himself for 
that spirit of penance and prayer which he 
evinced through life, and endeavoured to advance 
with rapid strides in the way of perfection. A 
good beginning almost guarantees a happy end; 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



67 



hence, Father Balthasar used to say afterwards to 
the novices from his own experience, "Take heed, 
dear brethren, how you advance now ; your pro- 
gress in religion depends on your fervour in the 
noviceship. If now you be tepid and negligent, 
you will hereafter be careless and imniortined ; 
but if zealous for your advancement, you will 
easier persevere to the end." 

Balthasar being appointed to serve Fathers 
Francis Borgia and Anthony Araoz, greatly edifi- 
ed them by his modesty and humility, while they 
profited him exceedingly by their great lights. 
He did not long enjoy this advantage, for a cook 
being wanted in another house, he was sent 
thither to discharge that office. He gave great 
satisfaction in this employ ; indeed, it greatly 
pleased him, because he regarded the meanest 
office in religion, great and honourable before 
God. Hence, he evinced no anxiety to be releas- 
ed from it, until his superiors, judging him greatly 
advanced, withdrew him from the noviceship to 
prosecute his studies, during which he continually 
progressed in the ways of God, as we shall now 
show. 

CHAPTER II. 

VIRTUES OF FATHER BALTHASAR. 

Father Balthasar, among other good disposi- 
tions, felt so strong an attractive for the holy exer- 
cise of prayer, that it was necessary to moderate it. 
Not content with spending therein the time allot- 
ted by the constitutions, he sometimes devoted to 
it the greater part of the night. He every year 
spent fifteen days in retreat, during which he 
performed the exercises of St. Ignatius; every 



68 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY* 



month lie devoted a day, and every week a morn- 
ing, to treat more particularly with God. He 
advanced with all possible humility in the way of 
prayer, not seeking any degree of it than that to 
which he was raised by God, knowing that it is 
presumptuous in the extreme to attempt to kiss 
the month of the spouse without having first em- 
braced His feet He faithfully walked in the 
three states of the spiritual life, the purgative, the 
illuminative, and unitive. In the purgative, the 
end of which is the purification of the soul and 
the mortification of the passions, he took care to 
make every day the general and particular exa- 
inen, He greatly esteemed the latter ; he said it 
was a sort of practical prayer, by which a person 
attained that knowledge of self which is the prin- 
ciple of humility of soul and purity of heart, two 
requisites for acquiring familiarity with God, He 
also made an examen of his meditation, both to 
correct the faults committed and conserve the 
good sentiments therein conceived, and he kept a 
little book, in which he noted any point or senti- 
ment which greatly moved him, with the day, 
month, and year in which it occurred. He says, 
that these were so many sparks which inflamed 
when he waxed cold, and that they greatly ani- 
mated him when he anew revolved them in his 
memory. 

During the day he endeavoured to conserve the 
good sentiments conceived in his morning medita- 
tion ; indeed, our Lord did not fail to continue 
them. This Father Balthasar acknowledges in 
his little book, where he says, that as courtiers, 
after rendering some pleasing service to their 
prince, are sometimes rewarded with an extraor- 
dinary treat; so when a person strives to entertain 
our Lord well in his prayer, he is favoured during 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



69 



the day with new and more excellent sentiments 
of holy things in great abundance. 

Father Balthasar had a great relish for the 
words which are recorded by the evangelists to 
have been spoken by our Lord, because of the 
great devotion he felt towards the sacred Huma- 
nity. He diligently prepared to celebrate all his 
festivals, and received in return great lights and 
graces on these holy days. He had a singular 
devotion to the Passion, and seldom lost sight of 
it. Being asked about this period, what his man- 
ner of prayer was, he replied, that on commenc- 
ing, he- kissed the feet of Christ crucified, and 
reflected on the virtues which He preaches from 
the cross, which produced in him desires to mor- 
tify himself, to love his neighbour, and assist poor 
souls. From his experience of its utility, he coun- 
selled all who began prayer to apply themselves 
to the Passion, and used often say, " Let us not 
think we do any thing, so long as we have not 
Christ crucified engraven in our souls." He 
often fixed his eyes almost involuntarily on a cru- 
cifix, which he kept ig his chamber, and thence, 
as he acknowledged to some holy persons, obtained 
great lights ; being somtimes, as it were, transport- 
ed out of himself, and absorbed in that abyss of 
charity, entering by the gates of his sacred wounds, 
and lost in the consideration of the poverty, humi- 
liation, and sufferings of his blessed Lord. 

He was sometimes favoured with ecstasies. 
One day at Medina del Campo, a father having 
entered his chamber, found him on hi» knees 
at prayer, while a marvellous splendour, indica- 
tive of his interior lights, beamed from his coun- 
tenance. Another time, a brother found him so 
absorbed in God, that he entered and departed 
from his room unperceived. A single glance at a 



70 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



crucifix one day while studying at Salamanca, 
transported him quite out of himself. When sick 
lie frequently had raptures, which the infirmarians 
mistaking for fainting fits, endeavoured by cor- 
dials to restore him, but without effect. He ob- 
tained great graces by means of prayer; our Lord 
treated him most liberally, and even testified how 
much he desired to be solicited by him. One 
time having made but one only petition, he heard 
a voice interiorly, which said, " Thou art as sparing 
in thy demands, as God is liberal in his bequests; 
ask for the relief of all thy necessities " Another 
time our Lord promised to help him as King, and 
indeed, He so punctually fulfilled His engagement, 
that His servant received the effect of his petition 
before he rose from his prayer. One time seeing 
a person in danger of being killed, the horses 
having run off with the vehicle in which she rode, 
he recommended her to God, and the animals 
suddenly stopped, to the joy and amazement of 
all who beheld them. 

It is no wonder that Balthasar was a man of 
prayer, since he was most faithful in the practice 
of mortification : he endeavoured to die wholly to , 
nature, saying, that as the martyrs by a painful 
death attain a blessed life, so do the other servants 
of God by the practice of abnegation ; and that 
it was not alone sufficient to carry the cross, but 
we should also die on it. With sentiments like 
these, he entered on his practice of mortification, 
first turning his arms against his natural dispo- 
sitions, 1 * which were extremely harsh and severe 
towards others, and succeeded so well that he 
seemed to be all sweetness and gentleness. He 
so mortified his affection towards friends, that 
it would seem he had not one in existence. He 
was never heard to speak of them, nor meddle in 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



71 



their affairs, nor even visit them, except once in 
obedience to his superiors. He much desired 
never to receive any favour from his friends, that 
he might be less obliged to communicate with 
them; He used to say, that a religious person 
ought to be like another Melchisedec, without 
parent or friend who might prejudice his liberty. 

To the mortification of the passions, Father 
Balthasar joined that of the body and the senses. 
When in Rome which abounds with religious 
curiosities, he remained in prayer before the relics 
of the Saints, while his companions went to visit 
them. One feast of the Holy Sacrament, he was 
observed to hold his eyes fixed on the Sacred 
Host, without once looking at the procession, 
which was magnificent in the extreme. Being 
once at a meeting to the proceedings of which 
he could not attend without looking at some 
ladies, who were in the next tribune, he drew in 
his mind an image of the holy Virgin, and enter- 
tained himself with her so closely, during the 
seven hours the meeting lasted, that he knew no 
more of what passed, than if he had not been 
present. If at table he was served with any 
choice meat, he took care to give it to the person 
who sat next, when it could be done without being 
observed. He used often to take hard dry bread 
instead of fresh, and contrived when sick to eat 
whatever they gave him, however repugnant to 
his inclination. He swallowed the bitterest medi- 
cine slowly, and as it were drop by drop, and all 
this as secretly as possible. 

He was very averse to perfumes — he would not 
suffer them, except in the church or the chamber 
of an invalid. When Superior, he swept the 
filthiest places and chose the most inconvenient # 
cell. At Avila, his room was so low that he could 



72 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



not stand upright, and for want of a table he was 
obliged to keep his Breviary and a few books on 
a shelf. He never chose a convenient seat, even 
when his bad health seemed to require it. 

It was his opinion that when sufferings fail, a 
person should supply them by voluntary penances. 
The maxim of St. Ignatius, that a person advan- 
ces in prayer in proportion as he advances in 
mortification was his rule. In corporal austerities, 
so faithfully practised by the fathers of the society, 
he surpassed all; being almost always superior, he 
took advantage of his liberty to treat himself with 
more severity. His disciplines were rigorous 
enough to make one tremble; it was necessary 
that the provincial should interfere, or he would 
have destroyed his health. 

But this did not prevent him from pursuing the 
mortification of the interior. He often relinquish- 
ed the sweets which he experienced in prayer to 
serve the neighbour; fearing it was his own satis- 
faction he sought in this holy exercise, he applied 
less to it and more to the gaining souls to God. 
Recollecting that St. Paul considers many as ene- 
mies to the cross of Christ, he thus said in himself, 
Henceforward I shall not, Lord, seek my own 
inclinations, however good ; but rather your blessed 
will. To console your apostle, I shall rather do 
what pleases you than what gratifies myself ; your 
will is preferable to all consolations. Another 
time meditating on these words of St. John, 
" There stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his 
mothers sister,' 1 he thus spoke: It was a point 
of honour with the friends of Christ to be near 
him on the cross, and this proceeded from his 
Holy Spirit. "He is on the cross, and his mother 
* and all the just are with him : there are none but 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



73 



sinners absent, for, as David says, salvation is far 
from them. 

This love for the cross inspired hirn with a 
great desire to be disengaged from all. A certain 
father, who enjoyed a great share of his confidence, 
having one day observed him more pensive than 
usual, like a person anxious for something, asked 
him the cause, to whom he replied, "I am trying 
to disengage myself as perfectly from creatures 
as if I were alone and abandoned in the deserts of 
Africa. 

Father Balthasar was a great friend to holy 
poverty, firmly believing that all religious perfec- 
tion consisted therein. "Let no one deceive him- 
self/ ' he used to say, "by spiritual delights and 
pious sentiments, unless he swallow cheerfully 
the bitter phial of evangelical poverty, unless he 
welcome its companions, hunger, thirst, cold, ig- 
nominy, and opprobrium. A person who seeks a 
nice habit and rejects an inferior one, is not a true 
religious — one who knows not how to suffer thirst, 
but runs to extinguish it the moment it is felt — 
one who endeavours that nothing may be wanting 
to him, has not the spirit of poverty. 

In this sentiment, Father Balthasar selected 
for himself the worst of every thing. He even 
extended his love of poverty to the vestments 
which were appropriated to his use. It was his 
desire that necessaries even should be wanting to 
him, and not only abstained from asking favours, 
but even refused those which were proffered, 
partly to preserve the spirit of poverty, and partly 
not to lose his liberty. He was never seen to 
wear any thing new : he took care even that his 
shoes should be first worn by some brother until 
they ceased to appear new. He wrote his sermons 
on old papers. In the same spirit, one time that 



74 



CATHOLIC BIOGBAPHY. 



he wanted a certain book during some days, 
lie preferred going for it to the library rather than 
retain it in his cell. In this he had nothing but 
a stool or a rush chair without a back. When 
visited by some great person, as was often the 
case, he used to say cheerfully, <c Sit down, my 
lord, in the house of poverty you must expect 
poor accommodations." Once he was sent a pre- 
sent of a chair covered with velvet; he imme- 
diately sent it to the kitchen, where it remained 
until it was spoiled, to teach the novices, who 
occasionally assisted the cook, to despise what 
was so vain in itself, though esteemed by world- 
lings. He was averse to wearing relics, images, 
Agnus Dei, because the heart sometimes becomes 
attached to them, when it should seek its consola- 
tion in God alone, and not in the things which lead 
to him. He affirmed that those who love poverty, 
were disposed for the divine communications. 

He was also endowed with a great love for and 
confidence in God : " nothing is wanting to him who 
loves," said he. His chastity was truly angelical. 
He acknowledged he had received from God 
exemption from sensual movements. He was 
once openly assailed, like another Joseph, and 
gained even a more splended victory than the 
patriarch, for he converted the person made use 
of by the devil to effect his ruin. No way elated 
with his victory, he continued to avoid dangerous 
occasions, and diffide in his own strength. He 
never conversed with persons of the other sex ; 
he was more on his guard even with such pious 
women as he directed, saying, that as good wine 
may be changed into sour vinegar, so spiritual 
friendships may become extremely dangerous. 
He strenuously recommended religious modesty, 
the transgression of its minutest rules was insup- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



75 



portable to him. We shall now see how fervent 
he was in the discharge of his religious and minis- 
terial functions. 

CHAPTER III. 

HIS GREAT DEVOTION, PARTICULARLY AT HOLY MASS. 

Father Balthasar's devotion caused him for 
many years to say his office on bended knees. 
When no longer able, by reason of his infirmities, 
he chose a retired place and there performed it, 
seated with as much exterior reverence as interior 
devotion. To awaken his attention, he used to 
call to mind with what respect the angels appear 
in the divine presence, and on his remoteness from 
their dispositions. He preferred reciting his office 
without a companion, that he might taste more at 
leisure the holy sentiments communicated to him; 
it is extraordinary how many excellent ideas 
he drew from a little verse of the psalms. He 
was very punctual in adhering to the least part of 
the ceremonial, as kneeling, crossing himself. 
Our Lord gave him to understand, that when he 
formed the sign of the cross, the three divine 
Persons conferred on him their benediction. 

But his devotion at holy mass was even more 
extraordinary. He prepared for it diligently, 
making frequent examens of conscience, and 
spending some time in recollecting himself before 
he went to the altar. No matter how numerous 
his occupations, or fatiguing his journeys, he 
never failed to offer the divine Sacrifice every 
day, and with such devotion as edified ail the 
assistants. One of our Society said that he 
owed his vocation to the fervour and devotion he 
observed in Father Balthasar during Mass, and 



76 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



while performing his part in the ceremonies of 
Holy Week. St. Teresa, an unobjectionable wit- 
ness, affirms, that one day during Mass she saw a 
resplendent crown suspended oyer this Father's 
head, indicative of the great devotion which then an- 
imated him. He often celebrated privately, being 
longer or shorter in proportion to the graces 
which God then conferred on him. Indeed, these 
were very numerous; hence he longed for the 
hour of sacrifice. The angels of those whom he 
directed often revealed to him during Mass what 
was necessary to be known regarding them. St. 
Teresa says, that the holy Sacrament was the 
Sun, by who^se light he was enabled to penetrate 
the wonders that passed within her. It is not to 
be wondered that the angels, who are ever before 
the throne of the love of Jesus, as well as that of 
Iris glory, should have a singular predilection for 
this holy man, seeing the devotion with which he 
officiated. On his side he was very devout to 
these blessed spirits, particularly him of whom it 
is said in the canon of the Mass, Jube ho3c per- 
ferri per manus sancti Angeli ; " Command these 
things to be carried to Thee by the hands of the 
holy angel." 

Father Balthasar devoted a long time to his 
thanksgiving after Mass : he made it with great 
devotion. Then it was that the divine light 
beamed more resplendently on his understanding, 
and warmer affections inflamed his will. In proof 
of this we select the following passages from his 
writings. 

" After concluding Mass on the feast of the Epi- 
phany," writes he, " while I longed to share in the 
happiness of the Magi, I heard a voice say to me 
interiorly, Sure, they only adored Jesus, and thou 
hast received him." Another time it occurred to 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



77 



me during Mass, that if the rich seek God, it is 
truly wonderful; because the idols must be de- 
stroyed in their hearts before the ark be exalted. 
Ambition must be destroyed in the great, sensual- 
ity in the rich, pride in the learned. Woe to 
those who reject, like the Philistines, the ark of 
the Lord, saying, We will not have it* because it 
holds the hand heavy and the yoke over us. 

Another time I thought, that if the life of the 
soul suffices for itself and the body, with how 
much more reason should the life of Christ ani- 
mate him, into whose soul he enters by holy com- 
munion. It is in this the saying of our Lord is 
accomplished, "As I live by the Father, thus he 
who eats me shall live by me, 1 ' Hence the soul 
may say after communion, Thy life, thy power, thy 
riches, thy sanctity suffice to me, Lord. As a little 
leaven cements a whole mass, so thy divine pro- 
perties insinuate themselves into the soul who wor- 
thily receives thee. I see evidently, said he on 
another occasion, that the reason many are so tepid 
after communion is, because they set little value 
on it, except accompanied by sensible sweetness, 
which gratifies their self-love. If they say it is to 
please our Lord, they desire these tendernesses. J 
reply, that they betray great ignorance in desir- 
ing to please him by any other means than those 
which He gives, and that they ought rather to arm 
themselves with patience, and leave all things to 
His Providence. A person is greatly deceived in 
placing the fruit of a good communion in devout 
sentiments only. Surely, when Jesus comes in 
his Sacrament, he does not leave at home His gifts 
or graces, His power or His mercy. He is al- 
ways and in all places God, and, consequently, 
infinite perfection. Whosoever possesses Him 
possesses all things; and if we will taste his 



78 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



sweetness we must be disengaged from every de- 
sire, every affection, save Him alone ; then will be 
fulfilled this saying of David, " The Lord hath sa- 
tiated the empty soul, and filled with good things 
the empty 80111.' ' 

Father Balthasar received so many graces and 
lights after 'communion, that he exhorted priests 
and all who approach the holy table, to make 
their thanksgiving as long as possible, to turn to 
the best account the time our Lord reposes within 
them. Let us imagine, said he, after coming from 
the holy table, that our Lord says in us, Me au- 
tem non semper habetis, Make th e most of this good 
day, " you have not Me always," and let us employ 
ourselves fervently in adoring him. Let our 
hearts speak, let them love this Lord, let them 
petition this Lord, He prefers the language of the 
heart to studied discourses, or long vocal forms of 
prayer. I say this, because many leave the deli- 
cious interior communication for long prayer and 
meditations not at all to the purpose. For what 
are these but means to prepare for the divine 
Guest. When He comes we ought to leave these 
means and go direct to Him. What can books 
teach that the Eternal Wisdom knows not? 
What profit in discourse with holy persons, com- 
parable to that received in communing with the 
Holy of holies ? What is the end of spiritual ex- 
ercises but to lead us to God? Having found 
Him, then let us be content, and taste in peace 
how sweet he is. 

But if He disapproved of confining one's self 
after communion to set forms, he loudly con- 
demned the short and cursory thanksgiving where- 
with many strive to repay their great benefactor. 
Ah ! my Lord, said he, the soul who is not joyful 
with you is unworthy of joy, he that is not satisfi- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



79 



ed with you merits no content, be that leaves you 
for the creature deserves to be abandoned by you, 
and left in his innate misery. 

With such sentiments, it is no wonder that 
Father Balthasar was most devout to the Holy 
Sacrament, He often visited it, sometimes spent 
whole nights before it, and when exposed, he 
never removed his eyes from it. It greatly afflict- 
ed him to observe the courts and levees of princes 
so faithfully attended, whilst few came to pay 
court to the Sovereign and Prince of all kings, in 
the adorable mystery of his excessive love. He 
deemed religious persons extremely happy, be- 
cause they lodge our Lord under their roof, and 
can visit him at any hour. Having one morning, 
when Rector, made his usual round of the college, 
to see if all were at mental prayer, the idea 
struck him that our Lord was in the midst of 
the house, "the doors being shut," as after his resur- 
rection, giving to his religious, as to the Apostles, 
his peace and benediction. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE GREAT GOOD HE OPERATED IN SOULS. 

Father Balthasar conceived a great zeal for the 
salvation of souls, in which our Lord coirfirmed 
him by many lights and graces. He greatly es- 
teemed his vocation to our institute, .the end of it 
being the glory of God and the spiritual good of man. 
Having one day given our Lord some great proof 
of his zeal, he next morning manifested himself to 
him at meditation, loaded and oppressed, as it were, 
with gifts and graces, to dispense them to those who 
would merit them by similar acts. This animated 



80 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



our servant of God to greater fidelity. Another 
time he was given to understand, that love of the 
neighbour was a sacred act, and a great proof of 
love of God, which required that a person should as- 
sist others willingly, speak to them obligingly, bear 
with them cheerfully, convinced that in whatsoever 
manner he treats others, he will be treated by God. 
That he might not be discouraged in his labours 
for souls, he was endowed with a great confidence 
in divine Providence. He felt then, that if it 
were vain to expect to succeed in an affair under- 
taken contrary to the will of God, it was impious 
to hope for success in any thing which Jie had ap- 
pointed. Lest he might give himself too much to 
external functions, he was soon shown that they 
required great graces, that the minister of God 
ought to be like those animals seen by Ezechiel,* 
all full of eyes, to guard against the remotest 
danger, to see the faults committed in his several 
functions, and adopt the means necessary to pre- 
vent their repetition. In what he did for others, it 
was evident that his only aim was the divine glory ; 
knowing that God is not a respecter of persons, 
he as willingly laboured for the poor as for the 
rich, for the ignorant as for the learned. He 
sought not to obtain the character of a great direc- 
tor, and made it evident to his penitents that he 
only undertook to guide them at the movement of 
the Holy Ghost. He was possessed of so superior 
a judgment, that joined with his kindness and 
affability, he acquired the esteem and confidence 
of all. He used great freedom in his direction, 
not attaching himself to his penitents, nor allowing 
the least sign of inordinate affection in them. He 
left them quite free to confess when they pleased 
to any other priest, and warmly censured the 
opposite practice. Nay, he sometimes absented 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



81 



himself totally from the confessional that they 
might be obliged to do so, knowing that the best 
established confidence may be sometimes weaken- 
ed, and that liberty of conscience is absolutely 
necessary. 

Though his zeal was ardent, it was still temper- 
ed by prudence. He sought not to direct many, 
but he endeavoured to advance those of whom he 
had care. He was most anxious for the spiritual 
advancement of his penitents : it seemed to him, 
that, with the aid of the Sacraments, no person 
could plead inability to correct his vices and 
acquire true and solid virtues, even though not 
favoured with a great gift of prayer and interior 
recollection. This was so well known, that the 
lukewarm and negligent totally avoided him. 
He felt a strong attractive, and certainly a singu- 
lar grace for the direction of interior souls. 
Knowing the strict account that would be requir- 
ed of their advancement, he earnestly laboured 
for it, exercising them well in the practice of 
abnegation of will and judgment, causing each one 
according to his grace to overcome himself, to re- 
trench all superfluities, and profit of every occasion 
of suffering and humiliation. He often mortified 
severely, but accompanied his reproofs even 
with such cordiality, that they never took them 
ingraciously. St. Teresa and holy Mary Diaz, 
whose lives are already before the public, acknow- 
ledge that he was the person who contributed 
most effectually to their spiritual progress, though 
his measures were sometimes sufficiently rigorous. 



6 



82 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER V. 

HIS CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE t 

St. Teresa, whom all recognise as the great 
mistress of prayer, says, that she never spoke of 
any degree of contemplation to Father Balthasar 
which he did not understand. After practising 
ordinary meditation for seventeen years with 
great fidelity, he found himself, as he disclosed to 
the general of the Society, called to the extraor- 
dinary. "Then it was," said he, "that I truly 
learned how to estimate all things as they merited, 
then it was I perceived that in possessing God I 
possessed all, and enjoyed such peace that it 
seemed to me I reposed in the bosom of the 
Divinity. This diminished a little, but returned at 
intervals in a greater or less degree, Deo gratias. 
Here it was that I received grace to suffer and b& 
fastened to the cross, and lost that pusillanimity 
which made me tremble before others, whom I 
knew to be so wise and holy in comparison to me, 
and without whom I fancied I could do nothing, for 
here I saw that however miserable I was, God more 
than sufficed to all my wants. My least actions 
were now animated by the interior spirit : in this 
blessed life they were, I found, better performed 
than if I had been long forecasting them, so true 
is that of St. Peter, " Cast all your solicitude on 
the Lord, for he has care of you." This life, this 
spirit, was my bulwark of defence in treating with 
the neighbour ; here I learned to pass through 
many cares without care. Entering often into 
myself to consider the sacred humanity of Jesus 
Christ, I plainly saw that he gives more to the 
truly mortified in one hour of prayer, than he 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



83 



does in many to those who are not so. I lost 
my desire to make long meditations; for God 
bestows more in occupations performed for his 
love, than in idleness and repose. Thenceforward 
my faults humbled without confounding me, for 
they made me trust more in God and difiide in 
myself. Indeed, they seemed, as it were, the in- 
lets of divine light, to teach my soul its own 
insufficiency. Involuntary faults, I perceived, 
hinder not divine communications; hence, a person 
should not reflect on them too often by way of 
remedying them, but rather turn himself to God, 
who will in due season give him the victory.'' 

This holy man giving us in his writings, an 
account of his prayer, says, " When I began my 
prayer, I felt the presence of God in an incompre- 
hensible manner, not by the imagination, but with 
a certain feeling of him. The effects of this sort 
of view, are a great peace of the soul, so that she 
seems confirmed in good, a great disengagement, 
a certain conviction that she is led by the Spirit 
of God, a great spirit of prayer, and a sovereign 
contentment without her perceiving how it comes 
to her." 

How specially favoured was this good Father by 
our blessed Lord in his meditations. When he came 
from prayer, he seemed to make one spirit with Him. 
Nor was his union with Him less perfect at other 
times; he himself acknowledged to a person in 
affliction, that, for his part, his "conversation was 
in heaven." He was favoured with many other 
graces, one of the most considerable was, the 
revelation of his predestination. One day con- 
versing with Father Gil de la Mata, upon the hap- 
piness of a person who is sure of possessing God 
for ever; "I at least,'' said he, "have a certainty 
of salvation." It is one of the greatest favours our 



84 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Lord bestows on some few, and wonderful to 
relate, it rather serves as a spur to advance than 
a curb to restrain them. He also received by means 
of prayer, a great intelligence of the holy scrip- 
tures, of scholastic truths, and theological difficul- 
ties, so that he used to say, our Lord wonderfully 
supplied the narrowness of his intellect. 



CHAPTER VL 

HIS ACTIVE LIFE. 

The zeal and charity of Father Balthasar were 
proof against every difficulty. One time when 
dangerously ill, he rose from his bed to go to hear 
the confession of one of his penitents, who lay 
at the point of death, and was suffering much 
from interior pains, saying to those who repre- 
sented to him the risk he ran of increasing his 
disease, that his health was a trifling sacrifice for 
the spiritual good of others. Indeed, he was accus- 
tomed to act on this principle. While Rector, hav- 
ing learned from a young novice that he was greatly 
annoyed by the devil, who came to torment him 
corporally in his cell ; he desired him to say the 
next night he approached, If you have leave, enter ; 
but if not, go to the room of the Father Rector. 
The novice did so, but reversed the words. Instead 
of saying, If you have leave, enter, he said, Enter, 
if you have leave, which failure in exact obedience, 
caused him another beating; but the second 
night, being grown more wise, he said the words 
as directed, and freed himself from the cruelty of 
the arch fiend, who, enraged at his defeat, repaid 
with interest the Father Rector. On one occasion 
having to preach a sermon on charity, he was 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



85 



about to compose it, when the Prior of St. Isidore 
expressed a wish to speak to him at some length. 
He complied, willingly running the hazard of being 
unprepared for his discourse, but he found that the 
best mode of preaching on charity* was first to 
practise it. % 

This good Father willingly relinquished his spi- 
ritual consolations to benefit others, the charity of 
Christ so pressed him, that he forgot himself to think 
of them. He rendered many persons most signal 
services. The spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, 
were productive of great fruit when given by him, 
for his words seemed so many burning sparks, 
kindling on all sides the holy flame which Jesus 
" came to cast on earth." lie effected among secu- 
lars the most signal conversions ; but let us see 
the great fruit reaped from him by his novices, it 
will still furnish a more complete idea of his spirit 
and eminent sanctity. 



CHAPTER VII. 

IIIS CONDUCT WHILE MASTER OF NOVICES. 

Being fully aware of the importance of the 
charge of master of novices, Father Balthasar, 
when appointed to it, took a singular care of these 
young plants in the garden of religion. He hap- 
pened to have many sublimely endowed, but they 
■were in his presence as so many children. He 
was so eminently favoured with the gift of dis- 
cerning spirits, that he perfectly knew the designs 
of God on each. The general mode of conducting 
them was, first to attach them to the exercise of 
prayer and recollection, and to perform well the 
other spiritual exercises. For those who entered 
the noviceship at an advanced age, he prolonged 



88 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



the retreat to seventy days, having had more inter- 
course with the world, and consequently, being 
likely to find more difficulty in restraining their 
imaginative powers. He was quite pleased when 
they begged permission to make extraordinary 
prayer, at the same time he taught them that 
prayer was not their end, but rather a means to 
acquire a perfect death to self. The spirit of 
mortification was the next thing he recommended, 
as well as a love of suffering and humiliation. 
And they profited exceedingly under his direction, 
manifesting the greatest desire of being humbled 
and despised, concealing their talents, publishing 
their defects, performing the meanest offices, seek- 
ing the most annoying duties, begging for reprehen- 
sions, and, in fine, they so loved and esteemed what 
the world hates and despises, that they soon 
attained a great facility in the practice of reli- 
gious perfection. They were so mortified that it 
was necessary to moderate the austerities they 
practised, and oblige them to take recreation. 
One among them, Antonio de Padilla, a nobleman 
of Castile, profited exceedingly by his religious 
education, and became as humble in religion as 
he had been great in the world. 

Father Balthasar exhorted his novices every 
third day ; the intermediate one he held a spiritual 
conference, the subject of which was the discourse 
of the preceding day, or some other point of per- 
fection. These were attended with great fruit; 
his words were so persuasive that his auditory 
was moved to do all that he recommended. He 
was favoured with a singular talent for instructing 
them, as he himself confessed, "I have received of 
our Lord a manner of proposing truths, whereby 
great good is effected. Guarding the order of his 
providence, He gives me just at the moment it is 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



87 



wanted all the knowledge and understanding 
required.'* 

F. Balthasar was not less enlightened in the di- 
rection of each novice in particular : he had a spe- 
cial grace for encouraging them when dejected, and 
consoling them when troubled or afflicted. Often 
they found themselves relieved from their troubles, 
by simply mentioning them in giving an account of 
conscience. Sometimes while they spoke he was 
consulting our Lord with the crucifix before him, 
and always with success. He was often cognizant 
of what passed in each novice without any previous 
information, so that he knew what was necessary 
for them. Father de la Mata, who came to Medina 
expressly to make his second noviceship under 
Father Balthasar, says, that he was ten weeks ma- 
nifesting his conscience to him without receiving a 
word of advice, though he spoke much to others. 
On expressing his mortification thereat, the father 
told him that he knew he was not annoyed by temp- 
tations, &c. which de la Mata was obliged to admit. 
When at Valladolid, the same brother wishing to 
speak to Father Balthasar of his desire to be sent 
on the Japanese mission, he was kept four hours 
waiting to try his patience and humility. When, 
having heard him out, he said. "Fear not, you will 
be sent to Japan, our general will send an order to 
that effect, which eventually happened, 

Sometimes he said nothing to the novices on 
hearing their account, but merely that they should 
pray to God for their spiritual wants, and that he 
would do the same ; but at the next public ex- 
hortation he said to all in general what was 
good for each in particular. His prayers effect- 
ed wonderful things in them ; but his exam- 
ple operated more, for he was the first in 
practising what he preached. His noviceship 



88 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



was so famed for regularity and fervour, that 
many fathers came to Medina, not alone to per- 
form the exercises, but to be edified by the 
example of the novices instructed by Father 
Balthasar. The great Father Baptist Sanchez 
used to speak in raptures when in the college of 
Salamanca of the wonders he witnessed in the 
noviceship at Medina : but it was not *alone a 
talent for forming persons to the institute where- 
with Father Balthasar was favoured, he was also 
endowed with a singular grace for conducting 
those already professed to great perfection, as we 
shall show in the following chapter. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CONDUCT! OF FATHER BALTHASAR IN THE SUPERIORITY. 

If Father Balthasar was so competent in train- 
ing the novices, he was no less so for conducting 
the ancient fathers. This was particularly ex- 
emplified in one of them, son to the duke of 
Cordova; though formerly rector of Salamanca, 
he was the humblest of all when Father Balthasar 
governed that college. Taught by so great a 
master, he edified all by becoming so great a 
lover of his own contempt ; he used to say that 
having received a talent for mean functions, he 
ought to exercise them as he did. Singular facts 
are recounted of him, ffhich evince his great love 
for humiliations. 

In a great measure it was owing to Father 
Balthasar. He it was that promoted the advance- 
ment of all in every college which he governed. 
He more esteemed those who were less talented ; 
but more fervent than the others. Nor would he 



* 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPIIY. 



89 



suffer that for the temporal necessities of a house 
the spiritual exercises should be deferred or 
omitted. He relied on God for all. Once, when 
rector of a college, the funds being very low, the 
procurator came to tell him that such and such 
things were wanting. "How solicitous our father 
procurator is," said the holy man. "Has he yet 
communicated this want to our Lord?" "No!" 
replied the procurator, "I have not even time to 
do so." "Well," said Father Balthasar, "you 
should have first done this. Go now to your cell 
and tell him all about it. Do you not think this 
little flock, has a pastor ? Indeed it has, and one 
who has not spared for it His own life and blood ; 
rely on him then for its well being." The procu- 
rator obeyed, and, wonderful to relate, on return- 
ing he found means of extricating the community 
from its embarrassment in a manner almost mira- 
culous, in reward, no doubt, of the confidence of 
the good father rector. 

As superior, he was foremost in giving good 
example, being the first at all the exercises of the 
community, prayer, examen, &c. He served in the 
kitchen according to rule: he chose for this the first 
day in each month, that seeing the superior begin, 
all might be punctual to this abject practice. 
He much esteemed the advantage of following the 
community, saying, "That God bestowed on the 
"exercises a greater benediction when performed 
according to rule." He earnestly begged suffi- 
cient health for this purpose, and even when sick 
dissembled his illness that he might follow the 
observances. He used to say that it was better 
to live a few years less and follow the rule, than a 
few years more, at the expence of religious disci- 
pline and common edification. 

He was most kind and affable to his religious : 



90 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



if lie sometimes assumed an air of severity, it was 
only for their greater merit, and he soon again re- 
sumed his wonted affability. He treated them with 
respect ; was careful to prevent any among them 
from being sad or melancholy, saying, 44 That 
there should be no one sad in the house of God, 
and that an excessive joy was more pardonable than 
excessive sadness." He compassionated such of 
the brethren as were naturally weak and often fell 
through fragility ; he endeavoured to lead them 
by gentle and easy means, and happily succeeded 
with many. He was most punctual to the least 
duties of his office to the day and hour in which 
he resigned it. After being rector of various 
colleges, he was appointed visitor of the province 
of Arragon, and afterwards nominated to be 
provincial of Toledo, in which office he died. 
Father Mercurianus, the then general, said he 
could not find one to discharge this office more 
advantageously than Father Balthasar. 

This good superior as earnestly laboured for 
the salvation of souls abroad, as well as his reli- 
gious at home. He was most careful to have the 
Christian doctrine regularly taught. On Sundays 
he used to go out in the evening with the students 
in procession singing the catechism, and having 
said the usual prayers before the door of some 
church, or in one of the public places, he made an 
exhortation to those who had assembled, which 
operated great good. He used to do the same 
when journeying from one city to another. Dur- 
ing the time he remained at Cervina, his native 
place, when visiting the province, he went out 
with his bell to assemble the children to catechism, 
which was quite a novelty. All admired that so 
great a person should perform this most humble of 
all functions. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



91 



The fame of F. Balthasar ran so high, that Peru 
solicited him as provincial. The general consent- 
ed, and he was ordered to prepare for the Indies. 
He did so most readily; but some persons having 
represented to the general the great good he 
wrought in Spain, he received an order to remain. 



CHAPTER IX. 

HIS EXTRAORDINARY GRACES. 

Besides the gift of prophecy, Father Balthasar 
was sometimes visibly favoured by the angels and 
saints, particularly in dangerous journeys. He 
was extremely devout to these blessed spirits; 
indeed, our Lord inspired him with a great affec- 
tion for them at his meditation. 22nd Dec. 1571, 
especially towards the angel of the Annunciation, 
and of the agony in Gethsemani, the blessed 
Gabriel, as well as to all the angels of the just, 
and particularly of those under his direction. 

Like all the elect, he was singularly devout to 
the glorious Virgin Mary. The devil did all he 
could to divert him from it by various temptations. 
One time at prayer he heard him say distinctly, 
"I shall cease to annoy you if you cease to hon- 
our that woman they call Mary." Having made 
the pilgrimage of Loretto, he received most 
signal graces by the intercession of the Blessed 
Mother ; it was then she recommended to him a 
great devotion to St. Joseph ; he used to pass 
whole nights before her picture painted by St. 
Luke, which he brought from the church of St. 
Mary Major at Rome, to the chapel of our college 
at Medina. Who can say what passed in these 
sacred colloquies? No wonder that Father Bal- 



92 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



thasar was so enriched with all graces, particular- 
ly that favourite one of this glorious Virgin, 
humility and self -contempt. He surpassed so 
much therein, that we cannot avoid treating a 
little more fully of it. 

When provincial of Toledo, he used to go on his 
knees to the cells of the ancient fathers, and 
begged with all humility to be allowed to kiss 
their hands. He at all times studied to conceal 
his natural gifts and supernatural graces: find- 
ing in the beginning some opposition to it, and 
being tempted to consider it a great act of humili- 
ty, he considered in himself how Jesus concealed 
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge while 
here on earth, and he thus obtained the victory. 
"We know but a few of the great graces bestowed 
on him, though he was always ready to declare 
his spiritual wants, his faults and imperfections ; 
he used to say that he neither had learning, or 
understanding, or virtue, or any thing good. One 
time giving an account of conscience to Father 
Gonzalez of Avila, he also declared the sins of his 
life, to the great amazement and edification of the 
father. So far from conceiving a more favoura- 
ble idea of himself, because of the graces he receiv- 
ed, he used to say that he learned virtue from his 
novices, and that the example of the brethren 
made him ashamed of his little progress in per- 
fection. 

To try him, he was sent many humiliations and 
persecutions. He bore them most patiently, and 
tried to exemplify in himself what he taught 
others, that there is no humility without humili- 
ation, no patience without suffering, no perfection 
without sacrificing all that is most dear for the 
glory of God. The following victory gained over 
himself almost confirmed him we might say in 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



93 



the grace and virtue of humility. At a provincial 
assembly one time, he was accused publicly of a 
considerable fault. Conscious of his innocence, 
and knowing his ability to prove it, he at first in- 
tended to rebut the charge, and was even advised 
to do so by one of the fathers, lest any one might 
be scandalised, finding so considerable a person 
guilty of such an offence; but fearing that in doing 
so he might be swayed by his natural inclinations, 
he asked the opinion of another holy man, who told 
him to sacrifice his reputation, and remain silent. 
He did so, and by this means obtained a complete 
victory over self-love. He ever after adhered to 
this practice, except obedience obliged him to 
give reasons for his conduct. If it was said that 
persons were unjust in their behaviour towards 
him, let us rather thank them, said he, for the 
great good they thereby render to my poor soul. 
How, said a person once to him, do you require me 
to be so kind to a person who has done you so great 
a wrong? "Ah!" replied F. Baithasar mildly, 
" do try to gain him. If you don't succeed with 
him, at least I shall with myself." On hearing the 
calumnies uttered against him, he joyfully said, 
" I am now convinced that God loves me, since 
he treats me as one of his elect. Indeed, when I 
have nothing to suffer, I am ready to fear he has 
forgotten me." These trials in no wise lessened 
the peace of his soul, it dwelt in a region far beyond 
their reach; the only return he made his enemies, 
was to load them with kindnesses. He suffered 
much on account of his prayer, many taking him 
for a visionary, but when he manifested all to his 
superiors, they were quite satisfied he was led by 
the Spirit of God, and the persecution ceased. 
To prove his himiility, Father James Miron re- 
quested he would accompany him to Portugal, of 



94 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



which he was appointed visitor, but Father Bal- 
thasar refused, saying, he preferred sanctifying 
himself in the little noviceship of Medina, which 
he then governed. But, said Father James, you 
will acquire so much additional information by 
making this journey, that at your return you will 
be elected general. "Ah, brother !" said the holy 
man, 4 6 if you knew how little I value offices and 
charges, you would not think of tempting me to 
seek them. I should rather remain all my life 
in a corner of a noviceship, than exercise the office 
of superior.' ' 

Notwithstanding his repugnance to offices, 
Father Balthasar was often nominated to them. 
It was while he discharged that of Provincial of 
Toledo, that he was called to a happy eternity, 
as we shall now see. 



CHAPTER X 

HAPPY DEATH OP FATHER BALTHASAR. 

A jubilee having been granted by his holiness 
Pope Gregory 13th, Father Balthasar prepared 
to receive its fruits, and fasted the fifteen days 
set down in the bull, though his great weakness 
and many infirmities loudly claimed a dispensa- 
tion, It was then summer, when the weather is 
in Spain intensely hot, so that in going from 
Villagarcia to Belmonte, he contracted a violent 
fever. The physicians did not think it dangerous, 
but the holy man knew his hour was come, and 
prepared for it by a general confession, which he 
made to F. xllonze Montoya. Having received 
the Holy Viaticum, and Extreme Unction, he beg- 
ged that no stranger might be "allowed to enter, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



95 



in order that his intercourse with God might not 
be interrupted ; and had a person nominated to 
discharge his office, that he might not be any 
more consulted on the affairs of the house. When 
his malady increased, the physician wished to 
insinuate his danger covertly, and without alarm- 
ing him ; but Father Balthasar removed his diffi- 
culty, saying courageously, "Tell me the truth: I 
am not sorry for life, nor afraid of death?" The 
members of the college were greatly afflicted at 
the idea of losing him, and having assembled to 
witness his happy passage, begged he would say 
something for their edification, but he continued 
to converse interiorly with God, until, with every 
mark of holy peace and joy, he sweetly gave up 
the ghost, on the twenty-fifth of July, the feast of 
St. James, 1580, in the forty-seventh year of his 
age, and twenty-fifth of his religious profession. 

When his death was published, several came, 
attracted by his reputation for sanctity, to see 
his remains. They emitted a most fragrant odour, 
and were honoured by miracles. Donna Joanna of 
Castile, procured part of these holy remains for 
our house at Villarejos de Fuentes, and Donna 
Magdalen, another member of the royal family, 
begged a portion of them for that at Villagarcia. 
By invoking him, many received great graces, so 
that almost all were confirmed in their opinion of 
his sanctity. Indeed, there were many proofs of it. 
His happy death, and great glory in heaven, were 
shown to a great servant of God, named Beata of 
St. Francis, who lived at Burgos, and received 
from God most sublime graces. One day, being 
at prayer, she heard a voice say to her interiorly, 
Come and assist at the death of a holy man, and 
immediately found herself transported in spirit 
to the bedside of a sick person, at which she saw a 



96 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY* 



great many ecclesiastics, and a number of angels. 
Soon after, she perceived five others enter in sacer- 
dotal costume shining resplendentlj, particularly 
one of them. This priest, having approached the 
bed, took the invalid by the hand, whereupon 
lie immediately expired, and his blessed soul 
ascended into Heaven, accompanied by all present 
in solemn procession, except two angels, who re- 
mained incensing the sacred remains. Our Lord 
having revealed to her, that it was Father Baltha- 
sar she had just seen expire, she related the whole 
vision to F. Christopher de Ribera, of our Society, 
who took a note of the day and hour it had taken 
place, which he found to correspond exactly with 
the official account, which was soon after received. 

St. Teresa, too, learned by revelation the death 
of her holy confessor, and felt it so deeply, that 
she wept for near an hour ; whereat one of the 
nuns having expressed her amazement that she 
would make so much account of what passed with 
time, the saint said, that her grief was occasioned 
by the loss the church sustained in the death of 
so holy a person. Soon after she had one of her 
usual raptures. It lasted two hours, and in the 
course of it, the glory and happiness of the ser- 
vant of God were manifested to her. 

"May my soul die the death of the just. 



97 



■ 

MRS. SUSANNA DE NEUVILLARS ; 

OR, THE FERVENT CONVERT. 



CHAPTER I. 

Susanna, daughter of Mr. Pommelie, a most 
respectable man, but regarded as one of the 
firmest supporters of Calvinism in his province, 
was born in 1571, at the chateau of Pommelie, 
near Limoges. Educated in the errors of her 
parents, it would seem she attached herself to 
them indissolubly by her marriage with Mr. de la 
Neuvillars, equally infected with Calvinistic prin- 
ciples ; but having frequent occasion to visit one 
of her aunts, who was educated in the true faith, 
and became a nun, she often conversed with her 
on religious subjects. 

She was not long without perceiving the falsity 
of her own principles. She examined the matter 
to the 'bottom, and after weighing the arguments 
on both sides, felt irresistibly drawn to the Roman 
Catholic faith, as the only true one. But she did 
not yet dare to profess openly the change of her 
sentiments, fearing the indignation of her family, 
who carried fanaticism to the highest degree ; she 
contended herself with uniting her intention with 
the prayers &c. of the faithful, and communicated 
with them as much as circumstances would per- 
mit. She spent the Sunday mornings at the 
highest window in the chateau of Neuvillars 
looking at the people going to the holy Mass; 
she followed them with her eyes as far as she 



98 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



could, and her prayers accompanied theirs at the 
altii* of the Lamb. To render hers more accepta- 
ble, she knelt down as soon as the bell tolled, and 
continued thus till she supposed the divine sacri- 
fice finished. How did she envy the happy liberty 
of these people * She would prefer the condition of 
the poorest among them to all her riches and 
honours. What bitter anguish did she not feel 
at being born among the great of the earth u 
since it exposed her to the danger of losing 
heaven. 

Already prevented by a particular grace which 
lights up in the bosom of error the principles of 
true faith, she tasted in prayer the sweetest 
consolations ; the tears which she shed in abun- 
dance, her continual aspirations and sighs towards 
heaven, already designated her a chosen vessel. 
She incessantly besought the Lord to restore her 
to the liberty of his children. She implored the 
Blessed Virgin and the saints, particularly St. 
Anne, whom she styled her mistress and advocate 
with God for this end, and procured some little 
objects of Catholic devotion to remind hex of the 
divine presence. 

Her faith was not yet strong enough to inspire 
her with resolution to surmount the obstacles 
which opposed her conversion. Her aunt and her 
sister solicited this grace of God, and he soon 
fully granted it. Being obliged to go alone to 
Limoges for the arrangement of some affairs, 
Susanna seized this occasion, so favourable to her 
desires, and went without hesitation, but not 
without a struggle, to the church of the Fathers 
Recollects of St. Francis. A single conference 
with one of these religious dissipated all her 
doubts, and the following day, which was Palm 
Sunday, she pronounced her abjuration and by a 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



99 



general confession disposed herself for the recep- 
tion of the holy eucharist. At this divine banquet, 
in which she received the Author of grace, she 
found herself inundated with inexpressible de- 
lights, such as she never before experienced. 
Then it was she was convinced that it is at this 
divine feast, prepared by the angels for the friends 
of the spouse, that we draw our principal strength 
against all the enemies we have to war with, for 
she now felt so. fortified, that, trampling on human 
respect, she openly avowed herself a Catholic, and 
declared her intention of living and dying in the 
true Church. 

From this moment she began to be persecuted 
by all her friends : her husband absolutely hated 
her; considering her as the opprobrium of his 
family, he loaded her with the bitterest reproach- 
es. Her sterility (for she was now five years mar- 
ried without having children,) added to his con- 
tempt for her, and this imperious man treated 
her as a menial slave ; but to all his outrages, as 
well as to the sarcasms of her father-in-law, and 
the solicitations of his wife, she only opposed 
patience and resignation. She faithfully observed 
all the precepts of religion, no consideration 
could induce her to depart from them ; but she 
took care not to irritate the family more, conceal- 
ing with this view her habitual exercises of devo- • 
tion, which were only a mere matter of counsel. 
It was generally during the night she satisfied her 
inclination in this point. 

For some time after her conversion she was 
greatly tormented by scruples. She had formed 
too rigorous ideas of the practice of religion, and 
delivered herself to excessive mortification ; this, 
however pure her motives, indisposed her friends 
still more against her and the true faith; but 



100 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Providence soon averted the dangers to whieli 
she was thereby exposed. A good clergyman, to 
whom she opened the state of .her soul, removed 
all her scruples by his wisdom and discernment. 
The moment, she met him, a secret voice said 
within her, " Speak confidently to this priest, he 
will show thee, on My part, the ways of peace and 
salvation." She was now restored to peace and 
confidence, her darkness was dissipated, her faith 
confirmed, her fears tranquillized. The man of 
God instructed her in the duties of her state, he 
pointed out to her the sanctity and indissolubility 
of marriage, and the confidence, submission, and 
respect which she owed her husband. He after- 
wards moderated the severity of her penances, 
diminished her extraordinary practices of devotion, 
and recommended in their stead interior acts of 
charity, humility, obedience, patience, and resig- 
nation to the divine will. Firmly convinced that 
whoever wishes to follow Jesus should " renounce 
himself," this wise and holy Ananias formed his 
penitent to mortification, teaching her to deny 
her senses the lightest gratification, and opening 
to her the path which was to lead her to perfec- 
tion, without being too severe or too condescend- 
ing. 

Susanna gave continual proofs of docility and 
obedience, and never strayed from the course 
pointed out to her, and God, in recompence to her 
fidelity, permitted that the birth of a son should 
restore her to the good graces of her spouse. 
Then fully re-established in her rights, she dis- 
played such prudence in the conduct of affairs, 
that every thing was left to her direction. Like 
the strong woman in the Proverbs, Susanna suffi- 
ced for all. She took the tenderest care of her ser- 
vants and watched over their conduct with unceas* 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



101 



ing vigilance. She never deceived a domestic who 
was not a Catholic and a faithful observer of her 
religion. The poor were the continual objects of 
her solicitude: she informed herself of their wants, 
assuaged their miseries, and when age or infirmi- 
ty hindered them from coming to the chateau, 
she visited them, and brought to their poor cabins 
abundance of consolation. 

Her virtue now appeared to advantage. She 
endeavoured to make herself amiable to all, and 
gave her friends and those of her husband, every 
mark of kindness and attention. This conduct, 
joined to the tender and affectionate cares lavish- 
ed on himself, dissipated all his prejudices against 
her and religion, and procured her full liberty ot 
conscience. 

She profited thereof in labouring ardently in 
the education of the young family with which 
God had blessed her. Her conversation was 
generally in heaven, her heart being totally dis- 
engaged from the earth. She would imagine 
for self doing her children an injury, if, in procur- 
ing them the goods of this world, she neglected 
their eternal welfare ; hence, from their tenderest 
infancy, she inspired them with an high esteem 
and affection for all that regards God, a profound 
respect for the adorable sacrifice of the mass, 
for the Sacraments, particularly those of pen- 
ance and the holy Eucharist, in fine, for every 
thing that contributes to sanctity. Anxious to 
preserve the precious treasure of their baptismal 
innocence, she removed from them every occasion, 
every person, whose example or discourse might 
tarnish its lustre. She spared no expence to pro- 
cure for them a good education, and generously pro- 
vided for their amusement, lest too great severity 
might afterwards lead them to the pursuit of for- 



102 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



bidden pleasures. Nor was her zeal less indefa- 
tigable in maintaining them in fidelity and sub- 
mission to the Roman Catholic faith. They were 
exposed to great danger of losing this precious 
deposit from the insinuations of their heretical 
relatives, but this pious mother soon disabused 
them, gave them eloquent instructions, made 
them pray with her, and thus preserved these 
young plants from being withered by the chill 
blast of error. She in time gained such an 
ascendant over her spouse by the amiability of her 
character, that she persuaded him to let his sons 
be. educated at the Jesuit's college in Limoges, 
although the Calvinist ministers did ail they could 
to have them placed in their own school. She 
did not think this favour too dearly purchased by 
the numberless sacrifices with which she bought it. 

We cannot declare the zealous efforts of this 
fervent convert for the conversion of her sisters- 
in-law, who lived with her, and who were not less 
obstinate in their errors than her husband. She 
at first strove to gain them by amiability of man- 
ners and manifestations of kindness, while she 
charmed them by the sanctity of her conduct. 
Having thus opened the way to the heart, she suc- 
ceeded so well in disabusing them of their here- 
tical opinions, that they not only embraced the 
true faith, but practised the divine counsels in 
their utmost perfection the rest of their lives. 
It would be impossible for her to labour more 
ardently than she did for the conversion of her 
husband. To convert him was the principal object 
of all her prayers and good works. The better 
she knew his difficult character, the more prudent- 
ly she acted, and the more tenderness and sub- 
mission she employed to gain him. To some who, 
actuated by indiscreet zeal, fancied that she was 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



103 



too reserved in her measures for his conversion, 
she said, " The conversion of Mr. de Neuvillars will 
be the work of God, who touches the heart when 
he pleases: I am continually praying for this 
favour, but am sure if I teazed him too much 
when he has so little disposition to hear me, I 
should ruin all. An extraordinary grace is neces- 
sary for him: who can bestow it but God; and is 
there any means better calculated to obtain it 
than tears and prayers, and these we unceasingly 
employ. Would you wish me to transform my 
house into hell, to render my husband a persecu- 
tor, and my children apostates ? I am as anxious 
as possible for his conversion, I do all I can for it, 
and would die rather than depart from the true 
faith, but zeal has its limits. n Such were the wise 
and prudent sentiments which Susanna had learn- 
ed in the school of Jesus Christ ; they equally 
condemn those who, through false condescension and 
blameful liberality of sentiment, will not trouble their 
friends on the score of religion, as these who carry 
matters too far through indiscreet zeal. 

While she thus laboured for her husband's con- 
version, she effected, by the force of argument, as 
well as by the sanctity of her life, that of her 
relative, Mr. de Lucha, a young man, who, educa- 
ted in the principles of Calvin, was on the brink of 
atheism. She instructed this unfortunate adept 
of a misnamed philosophy, and after conducting 
him firmly but sweetly into the right path, she 
soon saw him not only a Catholic, but a fervent 
disciple of Christ crucified. This conversion drew 
on her such a persecution from the Calvinist 
ministers, as well as from her family, that she 
thought it would be advisable to leave home for 
some time at least, till the violence of the storm 
ceased ; but imagining she was thus betraying the 



104 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



cause of God, she soon returned, and the menaces 
of her adversaries ceded to her courage and mode- 
ration. This brother, after valiantly serving his 
country and his king, embraced the order of St. 
Francis, and died in the odour of sanctity under 
the name of Father Paulinus. 

Susanna endeavoured to gain all around her to 
God; she sometimes spoke of divine things with 
such zeal and fervour, that her auditors experi- 
enced in themselves strange revolutions. One 
day, two young ladies of rank, intoxicated with the 
vanities of the age, were so penetrated by her 
words, that they renounced the world and em- 
braced the austere order of St. Clare. As God is 
the Lord of the little as well as of the great, she 
laboured as earnestly for their conversion. The 
poor villagers, to whom her house was always 
open, never withdrew from her without being 
touched and penetrated with the truths of faith, 
in which she instructed them in a manner suited 
to their capacity. Many sinners owed their con- 
version to her, many heretics attributed to her 
zeal their return to the true faith. God regarded / 
her efforts with so much complacency, that he 
sometimes discovered to her the interior of those 
who came to ask her advice or prayers, and 
commanded her to warn them of certain sins, 
which opposed in them the effects of grace. 

The obedience of this good soul to her confessor, 
was, as we have said, most unlimited. " Whatever 
good works I might perform," said she herself, "I 
should not feel satisfied if I had not the approba- 
tion of my confessor : I deem it a crime not to be 
submissive to him. If I wish to do a good action, 
I never teaze him for permission, I merely tell 
him that I could perform such a good work, and 
then leave him to direct me, lest I should seek 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



105 



myself. I consider my confessor as the repre- 
sentative of God, and in my regard, the organ of his 
will. In the extraordinary communications with 
which my divine Lord seems to favour me, I sub- 
mit entirely to the judgment of his minister, 
for I am an ignorant blind creature ; all that pro- 
ceeds from me is nothing." 

In the spirit of obedience she abstained from 
extraordinary austerities, but her life was a conti- 
nual martyrdom; every day she crucified her 
senses, renounced self-will, and tempered the 
satisfactions she enjoyed by salutary mortifica- 
tions. 

But what shall we say of her profound humili- 
ty? With an holy candour and simplicity, she 
sometimes said, "I feel I have no virtue whatever; 
it seems to me that I am masked when I practice 
any exterior acts thereof. I feel that I am the great 
est sinner on earth. O my Saviour, through the 
merits of your precious blood, I conjure you that 
I may die, rather than conceive for myself vain 
esteem or complacency; I would rather be trodden 
under foot like a worm, than be honoured at the 
expense of your glory. Since, I am so ungrateful, 
and make so bad a use of your graces, withdraw 
them from me, my God ! and give them to some 
other who will turn them to better account." 

She avoided praises as others shun injuries and 
insults, and experienced extreme confusion in 
rendering to her confessor an account of the 
favours she received, and of the virtues she 
practised. Obedience alone made her surmount 
her repugnance. If allowed to follow her inclina- 
tion, she would dress like the poorest villager, she 
would spend all the time she could spare with the 
poor, and expose herself to public scorn and con- 
tempt. The companions of her good works 



106 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



received from her, services the most abject. 
When they travelled, she prepared the repasts at 
the inns. Unknown to them she arose first in the 1 
morning, procured them fire and candles, helped 
them to dress, and procured them all possible 
conveniences, while she chose for herself the worst 
of every thing. 

"With such saintly dispositions it would be im- 
possible she should not possess the spirit of 
prayer ; she indeed was loaded therein with in- 
effable graces. Jesus Christ often visited her soul 
most sensibly in this holy exercise, and bestowed 
on her the sweetest consolations. It was espe- 
cially at the holy Communion this divine master 
caressed her more tenderly. Her confessor, fear- 
ing some illusion, ordered her once to reject these 
consolations. She tried to obey, but our Lord 
made her hear these words in her soul, " What, 
my daughter! fearest thou that I wish to destroy 
thee — I, who have shed the last drop of my blood 
to save thee ? Be assured thou art not deceived, 
and confidently say so to thy confessor. Yes, my 
daughter," continued this amiable Saviour, "I 
wish to give thee an idea of the sweets of Para- 
dise.'' " On hearing this," says Susanna herself, 
"I felt within me such a calm, that I never con- 
ceived more forcibly what St. Paul calls 'the 
peace of God.' " One night, having gone to rest 
after a long communication with God, she was 
suddenly awakened as if by a voice from heaven, 
and having promptly raised her heart to God, she 
felt such an abundance of holy joy flow into her 
soul, that she thought herself already among the 
blessed. This holy gladness lasted as long as she 
lived ; no sentiment of sadness ever rose in her 
heart which it did not immediately dissipate. 

We have seen this holy woman pass through 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



107 



the crucible before she experienced these delights. 
While a prey to scrupulosity, wrestling against 
herself without guide or counsel, she most certain- 
ly would have become a prey to despair, but for 
a little spark of confidence in God. In such 
agonising moments, pious souls, remember the 
virtuous Susanna de Neuvillars; like her, redouble 
your zeal for the divine honour, bear your cross 
patiently, and God will send you a guide full of 
his Spirit, who will conduct your steps in the way 
to Him. Under such conduct, Susanna soon saw 
her troubles disappear, because she obeyed with 
all the simplicity of a child. 

All the works of the most High were so many 
means to elevate her to their principle, to mani- 
fest to her his power, to cause her to adore his 
wisdom, to bless his goodness, and to consecrate 
herself anew to his love. She unceasingly found 
the Creator in his creatures. If she walked in a 
garden, a flower, a blade of grass, a worm, a fly, 
led her to comtemplate the divine perfections. 
If she treated with her children or domestics, she 
regarded not outward appearances; but viewing 
them in the light of faith, she considered in them 
deformity of sin, or the beauty of grace, according 
as she knew their actual dispositions — or the end 
of their creation, the price of their redemption — ■ 
and she was obliged to do herself violence, or these 
reflections would have absorbed all other thought. 
The sight of a furnace or lighted flambeaux repre- 
sented to her the fire of hell or the flames of 
divine love; then, elevating her heart to God, she 
besought him that she might never burn with 
other flames than those of his charity. When 
alone, she prostrated herself, and became so pro- 
foundly recollected, that whoever surprised her 
in this attitude was greatly moved: it had power* 



108 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



ful effects on her husband. Often she spent her 
nights and mornings in a tower at the summit of 
the chateau ; there, having no other object before 
her save heaven's high arch, enamelled with 
starry gems, or blazing in the golden rays of the 
orb of day, she contemplated with rapture and 
amazement the beauties of the celestial Sion, 
and wept over the strange infatuation of men, 
who prefer earth to heaven, time to eternity, sin 
to grace; there she sighed over the prolongation 
of her exile, and exclaimed, " 0 Sovereign Beauty! 
when will you free your poor captive, when will 
you break my chains, and set me at liberty ?" 
"As the hart pants after the fountains of water, 
so does my soul after thee, my God." 

Although her life was a continual prayer, she 
used to spend every year a certain time in retreat, 
and this in some religious house, that she might 
be more at liberty to converse with her divine 
master. It was in these sacred asylums that she 
prayed more fervently for her family. Her chil- 
dren, as we have seen, were all educated in the 
true faith ; all persevered in it, and many of them 
gave themselves to God in different religious 
orders, and became in them models of fervour 
and regularity. Her husband outlived her, and 
wished before his death to become a catholic, but 
he was not able to make his confession ; it is 
to be hoped God regarded his good will. 

Like holy Job and St. Paul, the virtuous Su- 
sanna "desired to be with Christ ;" but the accom- 
plishment of her desires was still deferred. She 
sought her sovereign good on all sides, but every 
creature told her with St. Augustine, "He whom 
thou seekest, is not in us, but above us. n But 
entirely resigned to the will of God, she became 
more fervent and charitable than ever ; her last 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



109 



steps in the road of life were signalised by new 
acts of charity, new acts of zeal, for the decora- 
tion of the sanctuary, and new fervour in the holy 
exercise of prayer. 

At length she was taken ill ; her distemper was 
violent, but her patience was proof against all. 
When they told her she was despaired of by the 
physicians, she begged they would sing a Te 
Deum in thanksgiving for the news, and raising 
her hands and eyes to heaven, expressed her love 
and gratitude in such moving terms, as affected 
all present. During the nineteen days of her 
painful illness, she never complained, except of 
the sins of her life, her want of fidelity to grace, 
and the care they took to assuage her sufferings. 
"I am sorry/' said she, "to die in down and silk, 
assisted by so many persons ; it was not in such 
delicacy my Beloved breathed his last. There is 
nothing like Him in me." As they presented her 
with a very simple meat, yet one which she much 
liked, she contented herself by looking at it, saying, 
" I wish to sacrifice this indulgence to God, like 
David, when pressed with extreme thirst, sacri- 
ficed that water which his servants brought him, 
at the risk of their lives." She received the holy 
communion every third day, and having assembled 
her children, gave them her last advices in so 
penetrating a tone, that their young hearts were 
almost rent, and all present were affected to tears. 
The love of God, fear of sin, contempt of the 
world, innocence, purity, perseverance in the true 
faith, were the lessons she inculcated, and which 
were never effaced from their minds. After ro 
ceiving the Extreme Unction, she entertained 
herself with her expiring Jesus in such sweet 
accents, that those who heard her, recognised 
them for "the inexpressible sighs of the Holy 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Ghost." When life was almost extinct, she caused 
them to sing the Stabat Mater, to which she lis- 
tened attentively, while her eyes seemed to glow 
with celestial fire,?. She was then wrapt in ecstasy, 
during which she was heard to say, " 0 my God, 
my children." The last interview she had with 
Mr. de ISTeuvillars, her husband satisfied her, as 
he promised to allow his children the free exer- 
cise of the catholic religion. He heard the last 
petitions made in his favour by his virtuous wife, 
and they were obliged to tear him from her room. 
As soon as he retired, she called for her confessor, 
and when he came, said to him, "The hour is 
come, my Father, pray to God for me, that he may 
pardon my sins." She heard the prayers of the 
agonizing read with all the joy of a blessed soul; 
and when the minister of God pronounced these 
words, "Subvenite angeli Der," "May the angels 
of God come to meet you," she expired in the 
peace of the Lord, the seventh of April, 1616, in 
the forty-fifth year of her age. She was univer- 
sally regretted, especially by the poor, to whom 
she had been a most tender mother. 



Ill 



MARY AMICE PICARD, 

( From the French of Abbe Carron.) 



CHAPTER I. 

Mary Amice Picard, the subject of the present 
narrative, was born in the parish of St. Paul of 
Leon, in lower Britannj, on the feast of the puri- 
fication of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1599, of 
virtuous parents, who lived by the labour of their 
hands. She was only seven years old when, on 
hearing a sermon on the honour of virginity and 
glory of martyrdom, she felt a strong desire to give 
herself entirely to Christ, and petitioned him for 
these following favours : 1st. The grace to do in 
all things his blessed will. 2nd. The grace of 
perfect chastity to the end of her life. 3rd. That 
she might suffer the torments of the martyrs. 

At the age of eight years she was put to service 
in the house of a man called Christopher Abgrall, 
where she was employed in tending sheep. In 
this solitary occupation, the Holy Ghost endowed 
her with a great spirit of prayer, which became 
her principal exercise and sweetest consolation. 
In the morning she used to unite her intention 
with all the masses which were celebrated in the 
neighbouring parishes, redoubling her fervour 
when the tinkling bell at the next church announ- 
ced the elevation of the sacred host. At the end 
of five years the little shepherdess was obliged to 
return home to assist her mother, her father hav- 
ing long laboured under the pain of a sore leg 



112 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



occasioned by the stroke of a hatchet. Mary 
Amice, greatly affected at his sufferings, obtained 
permission to make a pilgrimage of devotion to a 
place famed for miraculous cures, dedicated to St. 
Meen, bishop of Trequier, in favour of her dear 
parent, and the Lord recompensed her faith and 
confidence ; for at her return she found the limb 
quite sound, though at her departure mortification 
was progressing. In thanksgiving for the favour, 
she used to visit this chapel as long as she was 
able every year. 

On one of these occasions she met Father 
Quintin, of the order of St. Dominic, who lived in 
reputation of sanctity in the convent of his order, 
at Morlaix. This good religious, to whom the 
Lord had already manifested his designs on 
Amice, accosted her with "Good morrow, my 
daughter, do you love God ?" "God may grant me 
grace to love him." replied she. "And to me also," 
said the father. " If you wish," said he, " I shall 
hear your confession ; I know you intend to con- 
fess in our convent." "Oh father! who told you 
so?" asked Amice. "I am quite sure of it," 
answered he. Without farther explanation she 
made her confession : it really was her intention. 
Having finished it he gave her a cross, telling her 
to keep it while she lived, for a time would come 
in which she would want it much, but that God 
would be her protector. 

Ever after this father took a particular care of 
the young virgin, and often visited and instructed 
her during her work. One day that he had spent 
two hours in this charitable employ, she said, as 
the hour of dining approached, "Father, we have 
no bread, or I would give you some; will you 
taste some unseasoned pottage?" He did so 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY". 



113 



most condescendingly, the homely meal well 
agreeing with his spirit of mortification. 

Her father being seized with his last sickness, 
assembled around his bed, like all christian pa- 
rents, his little family, to impart to them his bene- 
diction. After giving them most salutary advice, 
he thus spoke to Amice: "You, my child, will 
have to suffer great trials, of which people will 
form various opinions; but take courage in the 
name of God, and heed not what they say. When 
you will think yourself without resource, and 
totally abandoned, God will raise you up a protec- 
tor, and some one will be found to assist you. Do 
not leave me, my child," continued he ; "Heave the 
world without regret ; it is time — there is nothing 
to be found in it but illusion and deceit ; but let 
me be administered, for I shall die before day<; 
break." 

He received the holy sacraments very piously, 
and some minutes before his death said to Amice, 
"I see the holy virgin, my child ; she comes all 
beautiful, and says with unequalled condescension, 
that the object of hei visit is to conduct me 
before God. His judgments are terrible indeed ; 
but you will pray for my acquittal at his tribunal.' 
The prayers for the agonizing were now recited, 
and after the good old man had said, "Lord, into 
thy hands I commend my spirit," he expired, as 
he had predicted, before the dawn. 

Amice remained with her mother until she 
reached the age of 35 years, refusing several 
advantageous proposals of marriage. During 
this whole time she was never guilty of the least 
act of disobedience, and assiduously performed 
the most painful duties. But as these were very 
numerous, she was obliged to shorten her time 

8 



114 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



for sleep, in order to be able to assist every day at 
the holy mass. She spent the Sundays in con- 
tinual prayer, scarcely departing from the church 
the entire day. 

Being pressed to marry by her mother and 
other friends, she absolutely refused to do so, and 
patiently endured the injurious treatment which 
followed her refusal, God was her only resource. 
"They accuse me," said she, addressing this Lord, 
"with refusing to comply with their wishes from 
fear, and horror of a poor, and painful, and labo- 
rious life ; but you know that I see no poverty 
except in a soul deprived of your grace. Send 
me all the sufferings you please ; but grant me 
patience to support them. I consecrate myself to 
you ; do what you please with your poor creature ; 
I care not for my body, so that you preserve my 
soul. 0 glorious Virgin," she continued, " mother 
of mercy and compassion, pray for me ; after God, 
you are my only hope. Blessed St. John, virginal 
disciple of a virginal God, protect your client : 
let the world exhaust its stratagems in vain ; 
provided God is for me, who shall be against 
me?" 

A conversation which her father held a little 
before his death mainly contributed to strengthen 
her resolution. The good labourer, seeing his 
wife greatly afflicted at losing him, said to her 
one day, "Why are you so dejected at my death? 
should we not be satisfied with the divine will?" 
"True," replied she; "but what will become of 
poor Amice, she does not disclose her sentiments 
to any one?" "Leave her to herself," replied he ; 
" seek not to penetrate her intentions, it suffices 
that God knows them; it is to this good God you 
should commit all your children, particularly 
Amice." "All that is very fine," said again the 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



115 



afflicted mother; "but she will perish in the 
corner of some ditch, having no friend to provide 
for her." "What do you say?" said the good 
Picard ; "has then the Lord ever abandoned those 
who trusted in him? Indeed, you speak like a 
foolish woman." Then turning to Amice, "Let 
your mother talk as she pleases, " continued he ; 
"but for your part, my child, do what God shall 
inspire you with." 

These last words were never obliterated from 
the mind of Amice, and increased the attractive 
she had long before felt for holy virginity. But 
her resolution never lessened the respect she owed 
her mother, and this woman, despairing of indu- 
cing her to marry, at length permitted her to 
follow in peace the call of God. 

Amice only thought of advancing in perfection. 
She chose for her director, Father Guillerme, since 
grand vicar of Leon. This respectable ecclesias- 
tic, having interrogated her on several points of 
religion, was amazed to hear a poor girl reply 
with so much discernment, and struck with 
admiration, he exclaimed with the prophet, 
"'Happy is he, 0 Lord, whom Thou wilt instruct 
out of thy law." 

The moment marked by God to try his faithful 
servant now arrived. She just entered her thirty- 
fifth year when he began to manifest the extraor- 
dinary ways by which he meant to conduct her. 
She spoke of the great things that passed in her 
soul to a young clergyman, whom she choose for 
her confessor in the absence of Father Guillerme ; 
but he, being inexperienced in such matters, 
treated her as a visionary. She then consulted 
the rector of Guimilion, who judged differently of 
her, but resolved to use all necessary precaution 



116 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY* 



before he pronounced on the nature of the won- 
derful things she related to him. 

In the year 1639, she had different celestial 
communications, which showed her more in detail 
the career of sufferings on which she was going to 
enter, and incited her to great fidelity to grace, 
and an entire abandonment to all the designs of 
God. Our Lord inspired her at the same time to 
offer him, for the conversion of souls, all she was to 
suffer. She made the sacrifice, and continued to 
renew it every day while she lived. 

It would be hard to believe the wonderful 
things recorded of Amice, were they not attested 
by ocular witnesses worthy of our confidence. 
Among the rest, let us hear the bishop of Cour- 
rouailles speak of her. " Until the age of thirty- 
four, Amice lived without reproach in the practice 
of chastity, humility, obedience, and extraordi- 
nary charity, which, at the age of seven years, 
caused her to form a desire to serve God in 
virginity, and to endure the torments of the 
martyrs. We have learned that she had an 
extraordinary gift of prayer ; in this holy exercise 
she spent days and nights without being able to 
close her eyes to take a little rest. The wicked 
spirits sometimes appeared to her in the form of 
executioners, and, on the vigils of the martyrs, 
inflicted on her the torments undergone by these 
servants of God." So far his lordship. 

It is said by one of her historians, that after 
having borne several days the marks of the 
wounds she had received, they were miraculously 
healed. Seeing her father's prediction, as to her 
sufferings, about to be accomplished, she thus 
disclosed it to a lady who was her intimate friend s 
" Madam, you will soon be shocked at what will 
be said of me : they will tell you I feast and 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



117 



banquet privately, while I seem to fast : they will 
cast me out of my lodging ; my director will 
abandon me, and I shall be deprived of the conso- 
lations of heaven, as well as those of earth ; but 
one person will assist me, and after a short time 
the Lord will manifest my innocence. Mind, do 
not divulge one word I say." The lady said she 
would tell her husband, because, if things fell out 
as Amice predicted, she thought it would be 
advisable to have another besides herself who 
could testify in her favour. 

Amice had for some time dwelt in St. Paul of 
Leon, at the house of Madame Lenondrain, and 
after, with the Ursuline nuns ; but though the 
community were greatly edified, yet, considering 
the extraordinary things which passed in her soul, 
and the concourse of persons whom her reputa- 
tion for sanctity attracted to visit her, it was 
deemed expedient to lodge her elsewhere. Her 
friends, in consequence, provided a room for her, 
and hired a person named Gabriella, to wait on 
her. 

This giddy creature Gabriella, unfortunately 
contracted a friendship for a servant in the neigh- 
bourhood, who used to steal wine, meat, and other 
provisions from her master, and then bring them 
to her, to partake in the spoil. As soon as Amice 
perceived it, she told Gabriella, that if she continu- 
ed to act so unjustly, she would inform the grand 
vicar, or some ecclesiastical superior. "If you 
do," said the wicked girl, quite enraged, "I will 
tell every one that you yourself got a share, and 
that the wine was entirely for your use." Know- 
ing that Amice was not to be induced to act 
against her conscience, and wishing, as they 
say, to have the first story, Gabriella addressed 
herself to a person, who, for four years past, had 



118 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



plotted the ruin of Ainice, and both concerted 
together how they should destroy her reputation. 
Together they invented the blackest calumnies 
against her ; accused her of dissoluteness, hypoc- 
risy, and every vice ; and they succeeded so 
well in making people believe them, that every 
one held Amice in abhorrence. In a sermon 
preached at the cathedral, she was represented in 
the most odious light, Wounded in her honour 
and reputation, she at first abandoned herself to 
the bitterest grief ; but soon animating her faith, 
she placed her shoulders cheerfully under the cross, 
and only thought of turning to profit the persecu- 
tion raised against her. By an effort of heroic 
virtue, but which is more admirable than imitable, 
she proposed to her director, in expiation of the 
too great sensibility she at first manifested, not 
to deny the wickedness alleged against her. He 
forbad her to do so, and continued to console her, 
until imposed on like others, he gave credit to her 
calumniators, and would no longer hear her con- 
fession, nor allow her to communicate, even at Eas- 
ter. But this was not all ; becoming more prepos- 
sessed against her, he would no longer pay for her 
lodging, and she was turned out into the street. 

The first part of her Father's prediction was 
now literally fulfilled ; the second in a little time 
was also verified : for Abbe Poulpry, Archdeacon 
of Lyons, hearing of her melancholy situation, 
offered her an asylum in his house, not for a time, 
but during the rest of her life. The poor creature 
gladly accepted the kind offer, and continued till 
her death to experience the charity of the good 
Abbe. This was the person whom her father said 
Providence would send to assist her. 

In the most trying circumstances, Amice did 
not allow the least murmur to escape her, nor 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



119 



would she allow a word to be uttered against her 
calumniators; considering them only as instru- 
ments of divine justice to purify her on earth. 
She offered most fervent supplications for them. 

During the persecution, Father Robert Cupif 
being nominated bishop of Leon, charged Father 
Louet, in quality of grand vicar, (for Father Guil- 
lerme, the former vicar, lost his confidence the 
verj day he refused the Holy Communion to 
Amice,) to investigate the whole affair. In pur- 
suance of this mandate, verbal processes were 
drawn up, and the innocence of Amice was fully 
established. Shortly after the unfortunate Gabri- 
ella perished miserably, after giving greater 
scandal. Father Guillerme having fallen sick, 
Amice begged she might be allowed to visit him, 
in consideration of the good offices he at first ren- 
dered her. He received her most cordially, and 
expressed his regret for having credited her calum- 
niators. 

The Lord raised up another friend to his ser- 
vant, in Christopher Abgrall, her former master. 
This good old man, who seemed to possess all tho 
simplicity and innocence of the first patriarchal age, 
was very charitable; he threw open his gates to the 
poor and the stranger, and being a linen draper, 
made it a rule to employ the poorest weavers, and 
to purchase at the fairs and markets from the 
most indigent, and at the highest prices. The 
Lord blessed him even in this world, every thing 
prospered in his hands, and he soon amassed the 
sum of £1200. 

As he had not lost his esteem for Amice, he 
from time to time went to visit and console her. 
The last time he saw her, he melted into tears on 
bidding her farewell. A few days after, feeling 
himself extremely weak, his family proposed send- 



120 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY 



ing for a physician : he opposed it, saying, a phy- 
sician of the soul was much more necessary. 
Having received the Holy Sacraments of Penance, 
and the Eucharist, he begged to be anointed : they 
wished him to defer it, as there was no apparent 
danger ; but he insisted, saying, that otherwise, 
he should die without its salutary aid. Before he 
expired, he exhorted his children to fear God, 
and love him above all things; to preserve peace 
among them, to be charitable to the poor, and 
continue towards Amice the good offices he him- 
self was used to perform. Shortly after he 
breathed his last; and appearing the following 
night to Amice, all resplendent with glory, he 
exhorted her to suffer every affliction patiently, 
for that the greatest trials were light, compared 
with the glory which was destined to be their 
crown. 

Amice found another resource in the person of 
R Nobletz, a holy priest, whose name will in 
Britany be ever held in veneration, as also in* a 
little child, who was brought up in the house of 
her principal friend, Abbe Poulpry. This young 
saint was very fond of Amice, and He "who pro- 
duces perfect praise from the mouth of infants," 
caused this little one to utter such things as 
greatly consoled the pious sufferer. 

But having passed through the crucible, and 
being found without alloy, the Lord now held 
forth to view the promised inheritance, and after 
having given her an occasion of adding a new gem 
to her crown by the death of her good friend and 
confessor, he. revealed to her that she would die 
on Christmas-day. She received the last Sacra- 
ments 21st December, with such lively faith and 
love as affected all present. 

Having petitioned our Lord for a share in his 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



121 



sufferings in the garden of olives, she began to 
feel such a desolation and abandonment as we 
cannot describe. Struck with a fear of the di- 
vine judgments, she at intervals exclaimed, What 
shall I, poor sinner, say to my God when he shall 
demand an account of my actions and the fruit of 
the graces conferred on me ? You have, said one 
who witnessed her terrors, to do with a God who 
is goodness itself. Ah! but he is just, said she. 
Is he not as merciful as he is just ? said they, and 
He has not forsaken you from your cradle. * 
Ah ! said she, that is what makes me tremble. But 
you have suffered many martyrdoms for his sake. 
0. she replied, these give me no assurance what- 
soever. To these fears succeeded frightful temp- 
tations against faith ; but they did not continue 
long, and peace was restored to her soul. 

Next day the bishop came to give her his bene- 
diction, and recommended himself and his diocese 
to her prayers. 6 6 May our Lord recompense your 
charity," said she, "in coming to visit a poor 
creature like me ; may he enable you to walk in 
the footsteps of your pious predecessors for his 
greater glory, your salvation, and that of all 
under your care." 

The little Lucas, of whom we spoke before, now 
said, "Farewell, dear Amice, "I shall soon follow, 
you, and be interred near you and Father Trebo- 
dennie, my godfather." This happened as he 
predicted. 

Christmas-day she contrived to kneel, and about 
seven o'clock in the morning, after continuing for 
some time to make acts of faith, hope, love, and 
contrition, she expired while invoking Jesus, Mary, 
and Joseph, in the year 1647. . 4 

She was interred in the cathedral ; the bishop, 
with all the clergy, secular and regular, attended 



122 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



her funeral. The concourse of the laity was 
immense ; all testified their desire of touching her 
remains, or of having something which had been 
in her use. 

How well does the Lord know how to reward 
His servants ! How faithful is He in "giving them 
for former reproach, a crown of praise and a 
garment of glory!" To Him be honour, praise, 
and love, world without end. Amen, 



123 



MADAME ELIZABETH BANQUET 
DU CHEVREUL D'ESTURVILLE, MATRON, 

FROM THE FRENCH OF ABBE CARRON. 



Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Ranquet, and of 
Margaret Loret, persons as distinguished for piety 
as for birth, was born at Paris, 24 June, 1618. The 
grand children of Madame de Mercceur, the most 
virtuous princess of her day, answered for her at 
the sacred font. It was principally to this lady 
she was indebted for her education. When she 
was capable of receiving instruction, she caused 
her to come to her every morning, that she might 
learn her prayers, and the elements of religion. 
She often made her renew her baptismal vows, 
and taught her how to keep them, by shunning 
vanity and all the works of the devil, and practis- 
ing humility, simplify, obedience, and all virtues. 
Elizabeth profited so well by these lessons, that 
her mistress augured for her the greatest things. 
She was not deceived — the little girl became a 
prodigy of virtue. Deeply affected with the 
solemn engagements we contract at the font of 
baptism, she detested vanity in dress, shunned the 
world, and avoided dangerous amusements. Her 
father wished her to learn dancing, as being 
an innocent pastime in itself ; but she reminded 
him that having been born on the feast of St. 
John Baptist, who lost his life by means of a 
dancer, she wished never to dance. He was 
too pious to press her more on the subject, so 



124 CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



she was left to follow the movements of her devo- 
tion. 

Madame de Mercosur earnestly wished that 
her cherished pupil should embrace the religious 
state; but God had other views, and ordained 
that Elizabeth, after being the model of virgins, 
should become that of wives and mothers. A 
short time after the death of this pious duchess, 
a worthy gentleman, Nicholas du Chevreul d'Es- 
turville, demanded and obtained her in marriage. 
This union, formed by the purest motives, could 
not fail being happy ; it indeed was so — never were 
two hearts more perfectly united, At the birth of 
her first child, Madame de Chevreul took it in her 
arms, and offered it to God with great fervour. 
She always conserved this salutary custom, which 
is as worthy of imitation as that other of nursing 
her children herself, and not delivering them to 
the care of strangers. Perhaps it is not generally 
known or remembered that a child imbibes the 
dispositions of its nurse ; if these are vicious, sin 
and wickedness may be ever after entailed upon it. 

With the most lively attractive for prayer and 
recollection, she exactly fulfi^d the duties of her 
state, and thus joined the fervour of Martha with 
the contemplation of Mary. Her first care was to 
establish so great an order in her actions, that 
exterior embarrassments might not occupy too 
much of the time she desired to consecrate to 
Jesus Christ. Considering the education of her 
children as her principal duty, she committed it 
to no other. She reared them most carefully, 
never flattered their imperfections, indulged their 
humours, suffered them to indulge vanity in dress, 
or affectation in words or actions, Judicious 
without weakness — resolute without sternness — 
she united a mother's fondness to a father's care, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



125 



and gathered the happy fruits of her solicitude ; 
her daughters became models of piety and fervour. 

Another family also, viz. her domestics, partici- 
pated in her affection : she provided for all their 
wants, and never refused them the just objects of 
their desires ; when sick, she herself waited on 
them. She was careful when they entered her 
service to discover how far they were instructed in 
the truths of religion, and provided for every 
deficiency in that point, which so many mistresses 
betray. She caused them to approach frequently 
to the holy sacraments, and kept them constantly 
employed, (yet without fatiguing them too much,) to 
prevent the bad consequences of idleness and inac- 
tion. She was inflexible on all that regarded mo- 
desty, never pardoning the least word or action con- 
trary thereto ; her house resembled a religious 
community, rather than a secular establishment. 

The time which she gave not to the care of her 
children and domestic affairs, was divided between 
prayer and works of charity. She bewailed the 
sins of others as her own, and spoke of God with 
apostolic zeal to the tepid and ignorant. She 
often washed and combed the poor orphans whom 
she fed at her door, made frequent distributions 
of food and raiment to the bashful poor, and 
rendered them services the most painful to nature. 
She provided for a poor girl deprived of reason ; 
she respected her, " because," said she, "foolish 
from her birth, she has never lost her baptismal 
innocence." She also instructed .little children, 
and taught distressed young women to read, to 
write, and to work, to enable them to procure 
an honest livelihood. 

Her humility equalled her charity ; many a 
visit she paid in secret to our Lord in his sanctu- 
ary. She often deprived herself of necessaries for 



126 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



the relief of the unfortunate; fasted, watched, 
performed vigorous penances, yet sought but God 
for witness of her pious deeds. With what sub- 
mission, respect, and holy avidity did she not 
listen to the divine word ; she could not imagine 
how any person would attempt to criticise or 
censure the ministers of the Lord. She was most 
obedient to her husband, beholding God in his 
person. Nothing was capable of distracting her 
in the church. She made her delight of the Holy 
Communion ; when the Sacred Host touched her 
lips, she said, "My God, sanctify my tongue;" 
when it reposed in her heart, she added, "My 
God, sanctify my soul, that I may think only 
of you, and never speak but at the dictate of your 
Holy Spirit." 

The days of communion she seemed to dwell in 
heaven. She was heard to exclaim, in the fulness 
of her gratitude, " 0 my Lord, may I be all yours, 
as you are all mine ; imprint within me your love 
and humility, your purity, your every virtue!" 
She found great pleasure in reading the holy 
scriptures and other good books, and made them 
the daily subject of her m<litation. From the 
consideration of the charitable Samaritan, she 
passed to that of the poor members of Christ, to 
whom she spared the confusion of exposing their 
wants by anticipating their requests. These pite- 
ous objects, who (to the shame of christians be it 
said,) often excite disgust in the beholders, were 
the objects of her tender charity. 

Neither her prayers, austerities, or domestic 
duties diminished her strength; at the close 
of day she was to be seen as indefatigable as when 
the morning sun gilded the horizon. She rose 
at night to pray, and left her oratory quite bedew- 
ed with her tears. God never allows himself to 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



127 



be surpassed in generosity : as our pious matron 
exercised herself in the most rigid macerations, 
she received great graces — soon she saw in all 
creatures but God alone. " If I ascend to heaven,'* 
said she, " if I go down to hell, if I enter into my 
own heart, I find thee there, my God." Her love 
for, and contemplation of Jesus Christ was so con- 
tinual, that she spoke to and acted towards all as 
if she saw Him in them. She often said, "O my 
soul, bless the Lord, and render continual homage 
to his immortal greatness, his unbounded love," 
She was most devout towards the Holy Sacrament ; 
she remained some hours one day, expecting the re- 
turn of a procession, prostrate before the divine ob- 
ject of her love. She composed many excellent 
prayers for herself from the holy scriptures and 
writings of St. Francis de Sales, and other fathers, 
in which she was deeply read. Hearing of her mo- 
ther's death, she addressed our Lord on the cross 
in the following strain, drawn almost word for word 
from the epistles of St. Paul: "King of heaven 
and earth! your 'charity presses us' when we con- 
sider that for us you have undergone the death of 
the cross, we should indeed live no longer but for 
you, who have died and risen again to save us. 
What wonder, 'then, that you have taken a life 
which belonged to you ? May your holy name be 
blessed, 0 immortal King of ages, now and for 
ever." After this prayer she tried to subdue too 
great sensibility, and recommending her mother 
to her children's prayers, conjured them often to 
think on death, and not to be deceived by the 
devil, who makes it appear much more distant 
than it really is. 

She was most devout to Jesus crucified, often 
kissed the cross which she wore with great devo- 
tion, and frequently imprinted the sacred sign of 



128 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



redemption on her forehead and heart. She 
wept at the recollection of the cruelties Jesus 
Christ suffered thereon, and wished to share in 
them, attaching great value to shame and re- 
proaches. She detested applause, was always 
humble and annihilated before God in his temple, 
remaining at the door with the publican, and 
esteeming herself the most wicked of creatures, 
however trivial her faults. The saints only love 
to speak of God and holy things. A hermit, who 
lived in the forest near Orriquebec, as fervently 
as the solitaries of Thebaide, often conversed 
with Madame Ranquet only on pious subjects. 
He discovered in her all virtues, particularly that 
of humility. She one day said to him, " It is very 
strange how all seem to abhor pride, and prefer 
humility in theory, but few practise it. Is it not 
pitiable that the greatest vice is the most common; 
all blame pride, and yet almost all are enslaved to 
it ; all praise humility, and yet few seek to acquire 
it." The result of these reflections was a great 
spirit of humble obedience. She could not persuade 
herself to follow her inclinations, and said to the 
good solitary that she wondered how those who act- 
ed every day as they pleased, did not die of grief, 
since the only satisfaction of a christian should be 
found in obedience. She never complained of 
contradictions, and was always submissive to the 
order of Providence. "It is the will of God," 
she used to say, "that we respectfully submit to 
all that he desires of us. I am the servant of 
the Lord, may his will be accomplished in me." 

But so pious a life was not to be protracted, nor 
the crown due to its merits to be long withheld. 
The constitution of Madame Chevreul was very 
delicate, and although taken little care of, bore 
up against the mortifications which she exercised ; 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



129 



but the fatigues which she underwent in attending 
her daughters when attacked bj a dangerous fever, 
and some other sick persons, quite destroyed it. 

After fasting during the Lent, she found her 
strength quite exhausted, and was obliged to 
keep her bed on Friday in Passion week. Her 
family were greatly alarmed ; she wished to assist 
at Mass on Palm Sunday; but her husband 
seeing how ill she was, absolutely refused. Her 
only observation on the occasion was, that she 
was not worthy to bear the palm, that such an 
honour was due only to the conquerors of sin. 
Some poor persons whom she had liberally relieved 
begged to see her. When admitted to her bed- 
side, she embraced them tenderly, recommended 
herself to their prayers, exhorted them to bless 
God in their poverty, and never to forget that 
their divine Master had been poor. The clever- 
est physicians were consulted for her; but > she 
appeared indifferent to their services, and only 
entreated that her confessor should be sent for, 
saying, "That the soul should be first looked to, 
that sin was a thief in the house, a serpent in the 
bosom, that it wounded the soul and extinguished 
divine love," Having made her confession with 
many tears, she renewed the vows of her baptism, 
had the Holy Sacrifice offered for her intention, 
and received the holy viaticium. She used often 
repeat these words, "Why art thou sad, my soul? 
and why dost thou disturb me ? Hope in God, 
for Him I will still praise ; He is the hope of my 
salvation." On Good Friday she begged to be 
annointed ; on this occasion, she said, " That the 
sign of the cross imprinted on the senses of the 
body in this sacrament, together with the sight of 
the crucifix, caused a dying person to participate 
9 



130 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



in the sufferings of his Master, and accomplished 
in him, 'by penance,' what is wanting, as the 
Apostle says, "of the Passion of Christ." After 
venerating the holy cross, and causing it to be ve- 
nerated by all her attendants, she had her daugh- 
ters called, to give them her benediction. When 
kneeling round her bed, she thus addressed them : 
" My children, engrave in your memory the last 
words of your dying mother. Remember during 
life, that your duty as Christians, is to 'live holily, 
justly, and piously, looking for the coming of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. ' Love this blessed Lord with 
all your heart, never relax in your resolution to 
serve him, often think that nothing is worth re- 
garding but eternity. Yield not to impatience in 
suffering, detach yourselves entirely from the crea- 
ture, and labour courageously to acquire solid 
virtues. If you love God, you will certainly love 
your neighbour. Succour those who want your 
aid,' relieve the poor and necessitous, pray for the 
afflicted. Be most strictly observant of modesty, 
avoid balls and such amusements, bridle your 
tongue, avoid vanity, combat your inclinations, 
love God, fear his judgments, obey your father, 
love your brother, and pray for me your mother, 
who give you my last blessing in recommending 
you to the care of the Most High." 

Madame Chevreul then wrote to her son, to ad- 
vise him, as she had advised his sisters, as also to 
recommend to him, if God called him to the mar- 
ried state, to observe conjugal chastity ; and hav- 
ing offered his children at their birth to the divine 
Author of their existence, to bring them up in his 
holy fear and love. 

One duty, and an affecting one, still remained ; 
it was to console her afflicted spouse. This was 
no easy task, as he seemed to be abyssed in grief. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



131 



She reminded him of their mutual promise to 
submit in all things to the will of God, and hay- 
ing induced him to do so, she sent for a worthy 
priest, who long enjoyed her confidence, and 
besought him to undertake the charge of minis- 
tering consolation to her afflicted husband. All 
her obligations being now fulfilled, she no longer 
thought but of God, no longer spoke scarcely but 
to express her regret for not having served him 
better. Sometimes she was heard to say, "1 re- 
joiced at what hath been told me, we are to go 
into the house of the Lord." Her eyes were con- 
stantly fixed on heaven, till, while the priest was 
giving her the last benediction, on Easter Sunday 
morning, she bent her head and peaceably slept 
in the Lord. 

Her pious death produced happy results. All 
who knew her desired to die like her, and for this 
purpose resolved to tread in her footsteps. The 
poor honoured her memory by their tears and. 
prayers ; her spouse consoled himself by the prac- 
tice of those virtues of which he had in her such 
a model ; her daughters, one in the cloister, the 
other in marriage, became her perfect imitators, 
and produced in themselves excellent copies of 
this excellent original. 

She was buried in the church of Orriquebec, be- 
fore the tabernacle, where she had often offered 
her heart and soul to Jesus in his own holy Sa- 
crament. 



133 



THE LIFE OF THE VENERABLE MOTHER, 
MARY BERON OF ST. MAGDALEN, 

RELIGIOUS URSULINE AT PARIS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Those who know how to judge of solid virtue, 
will assuredly recognise that, under a life appa- 
rently common, Mother St. Magdalen was a living 
copy of the rules, and may be denominated the 
model of the religious of her institute. She was 
born at Chartres, September 10, 1581, and was 
the daughter of a physician of that city. While 
yet an infant, God miraculously preserved her 
from being smothered by means of her God- 
mother. The good qualities perceived in her 
while very young, sufficiently indicated what she 
would one day be. 

Her mother, seeing her very promising, took 
great care to instruct her, and deeply engraved 
in her soul this important advice: " Rather die 
than offend God." One day, while walking with 
her companions, a person infected with fever 
approached her very closely; she felt greatly 
alarmed, and towards night perceived she had 
caught the disease; but having recommended 
herself to God, after spending the night in great 
pain and inquietude, she slept a little, and in 
the morning found herself perfectly well. Some- 
time having lost her good mother, the care 
of the household devolved on her ; thencefor- 
ward all her inclination was for the service 
of God ; so that her amusements were to visit 



134 CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY 

\ 

churches, her joy to receive the Holy Commu- 
nion, and her delight to fast, to do penance, and 
attend sermons, to which she rendered herself so 
attentive, that towards the end of her life she 
repeated them by heart. She was at one time 
tormented by scruples, but was cured by her 
submission to Father Boette, dean of our lady of 
Chartres, to whom she made a general confession. 
He undertook the direction of her soul, and pre- 
dicted to her the principal events of her life. 
The desire of being a religious occupied her for 
near fifteen years, though she had but a general 
idea of the happiness of that state. In six months 
she learned how to write perfectly well, to make 
use of it in some monastery; and having made 
choice of the Capuchinesses of Paris, she was 
presented to them immediately after her father's 
decease by her good confessor. These rejected her, 
imagining she was too advanced in life, (being 
then twenty-nine years old,) to accustom herself to 
their* rule, which so annoyed M. Boette, who 
knew what a treasure she would prove to any 
community, that he said to them, "Well, then, 
you won't get her, I shall place her elsewhere." 
After saying this, he took her to Madame St. 
Beuve, who then directed the infant house of tho 
Ursulines as foundress, and who, as well as the 
superior Mr. Geslin, was greatly taken with her. 
She felt that this was the place God had destined 
for her, and after the first visit could not restrain 
her joy from those she met. She was admitted 
soon after on the bourse of Madame St. Beuve, for 
which she ever after testified her gratitude. 

Mary Beron was endowed with great bodily 
strength, a sound judgment, and an affectionate 
heart, very sensible to the miseries of others. 
She prized so highly the religious state, that shq 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



3 35 



endeavoured to prevail on lier cousin to embrace 
it, but ineffectually. Her sister, seeing that the 
establishment of the Ursulines, as a religious 
congregation, proceeded very slowly, wished to 
persuade her to return home, or seek another 
place ; but she remained immoveable, and even 
then manifested a little of that firmness, for 
which, in after life, she proved herself remarkable. 
Her hope was not vain ; for some months after the 
arrival of the religious of St. Stephen at Sois- 
sons, twelve ladies of the Ursuline congregation 
being selected as the first religious, or twelve foun- 
dresses of the institute ; Mary was the fourth in 
rank. On St. Martin's day they received the habit, 
which caused her to take this saint for her particu- 
lar patron, and she endeavoured so to imitate him, 
that every day of her noviceship she increased in 
fervour. 

The superiors considering these first novices 
as the mothers of the institute, required of them 
an heroic virtue, and abundantly furnished them 
with the means, trying them by numberless penan- 
ces and humiliations, of which our Magdalen 
received a large portion, because of her incompa- 
rable fervour, and strength of mind and body. 
After being two years tried in this way, her supe- 
riors expressed their entire approbation. 

Being made mistress of the pensioners, she 
behaved herself with them as the angel guardians 
do with men — without losing recollection, and 
with a desire of preserving their innocence, and a 
sweetness and humility which caused her to render 
them every service. These little creatures deba- 
ted among themselves who of them would come 
nearest to her, being attracted by the saintly 
odour which she exhaled. They had in her the 
most perfect confidence ; a lady of Paris who had 



136 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



been in the class in her childhood, told the nuns, 
before the death of this good mother, that she 
used every night to tell her what she had been 
doing all day, and that she had no greater joy 
than to see her or hear her speak. 

It was remarked of sister Magdalen, that not- 
withstanding the multiplicity of the affairs of the 
house, which was then a chaos in comparison of 
its present state, she was never anxious or troubled, 
but applied herself in silence and peace to what 
she had to do. Being cellarist, she lent a hand 
to every thing, and punctually obeyed a lay sister 
of Soissons who superintended the kitchen. When 
any thing was wanting, they blamed sister Mag- 
dalen, yet she remained unmoved, and whatever 
increase of work arrived, she was the same. 
Some were amazed at her recollection, for at that 
time the monastery being in its infancy, there 
was no distinction between the occupations of the 
choir-nuns and those of the lay sisters, all being 
indifferently obliged to pile up the wood, to carry 
manure to the garden, make the beds of the pen- 
sioners, &c. After her profession, at which she 
was preferred to two, and passed from fourth to 
second among the twelve foundresses, she strove 
to advance towards God as if she had hitherto dona 
nothing for Him. She was the first mistress 
general of the pensioners, first depositaire, and 
portress, and assistant of the order. She some- 
times had several of these charges at the same 
time without appearing embarrassed. She made 
up medicine for the pensioners, and was the first 
in the house who exercised pharmacy. She was 
indefatigable in all things, though much more 
active in mind than in body ; but God, who pre- 
ferred seeing her suffer rather than act, arrested 
her activity for some time by an attack of the 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



137 



sclatique or hip gout, which, besides the excessive 
pains it brought with it, threatened to confine her 
to bed during her life. But mother Magdalen, al- 
ready skilled in the art of divine love, kissed the 
hand that struck her, and having made a vow to 
St. Maur, promising to fast every year on his 
feast day, if he procured her sufficient to follow 
the rule she had embraced, she recovered so far 
as to be able to follow the community and observe 
the rule almost during her life. 



CHAPTER II. 

HER CONDUCT WHILE SUPERIORESS. 

Eight years after the profession of the first 
religious Ursulines, mother Magdalen was elected 
superioress. She did all she could to avoid it, 
and after the election shed abundance of tears, so 
that they were obliged to command her to exer- 
cise the charge. She was near fainting on receiv- 
ing the homage of the religious, and her mournful 
air sufficiently indicated how much she suffered. 
Like St. Bernard, she mingled at first too much 
severity in her government, fearing to relax regu- 
lar observance; all her nuns were nevertheless 
persuaded of her good intentions, and that she 
sincerely loved them. One time, having imposed on 
a religious, a penance more rigorous than her fault 
merited, this nun manifested some coldness to- 
wards her, which being perceived by mother Mag- 
dalen, being now fallen sick she sent for her, and 
after testifying her friendship for her in a variety 
of ways, she committed all her papers to her care, 
as to one in whom she had most confidence, beg- 
ging of her to burn them in case she died. While 



138 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



she governed, she left the religious at full liberty 
to treat of their interior with the spiritual Fathers 
of the monastery. These were always the Jesuits ; 
she herself often consulted them. 

While this vigilant superior laboured to advance 
the service of God, the devil set all his engines at 
work to annoy them. A Parisian, whose house 
was infected with the plague, sent his two daugh- 
ters on pension to the Ursulines, to preserve them; 
but the oldest, after arriving there, was struck by 
it. Mother Magdalen suspecting the matter, could 
do nothing, for it was then late, except to forbid to 
all the entry to the Infirmary where the girl lay. 
•Fearing to alarm the religious, she retired to the 
Dormitory, after leaving a lay sister to watch the 
invalid, but in a strange inquietude. Scarcely had 
she dozed, when a voice which she believed to 
be that of her angel, awakened her, saying, Arise, 
arise, it is no longer time to sleep. Having done so, 
she went straight to the Infirmary, where, having 
made a vow to St. Ignatius of Loyola for the pre- 
servation of the house, the invalid was removed 
from it before death, and all remained safe. 

She never spoke of the providence of God over 
her monastery in these beginnings, but with a 
great effusion of tenderness. She said she could 
not detail His paternal bounty towards it, but that 
the religious could not be grateful enough for 
it. The most difficult affairs regarding the 
government of the house, occurred while she was 
superioress, and it was evident how perfectly she 
knew how to transact them. But if she was 
grieved at her first election, how much more was 
she afflicted, when, at the expiration of the three 
years, she was again chosen. Though she exag- 
gerated her bad government to excess, and began 
to publish all her sins in full assembly, she was 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



139 



obliged to hear the confirmation of her election. 
It was then she saw how exactly the words of a 
servant of God at her entry to the Ursulines were 
verified, that she iconic! be always in office. Hav- 
ing resolved to bear this cross in a spirit of abne- 
gation, and as if she loved it, she happily succeed- 
ed; the superiors advised her to moderate herself 
a little more, to render her" efforts more effectual. 
One of them, F. Galemant, ordered her to commu- 
nicate nine clays successively, that being fed with 
the flesh of the Lamb, she might more abundantly 
participate in its divine qualities. She did so, 
and with so much profit that she appeared quite 
changed, and knew ever after to accommodate her- # 
self with the imperfect, as with the perfect among 
her religious. She became more cordial and com- 
passionate, passed over things which were essen- 
tially trivial, but still retained her zeal for the 
observance of discipline. Her change was for 
others, for she still continued most severe towards 
herself. When she met opposition from any one, 
she prayed and exercised on herself great austeri- 
ties, sometimes fasting two or three days a week 
on bread and water. 

Mother Magdalen was superioress twelve years 
more, six years successively being elected by the 
unanimous voice of the chapter. She never left 
the monastery of Paris, except for three weeks, 
which she spent at St. Denis, to judge if a house 
could be founded there. She never engaged to 
found in the different other places, except in obe- 
dience to her spiritual guides, when she knew that 
they were likely to succeed. 

In 1636, several communities being obliged to 
quit their monasteries because of the war between 
France and Spain, mother Magdalen received the 
Ursulines of Crepy, who were forty in number, in 



140 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



the kindest manner, and deprived herself of neces- 
saries to make them comfortable; her religious 
resigned their beds &c. for their use, except a few 
novices, thereby practising poverty, charity, and 
hospitality. Some of these poor fugitives being 
fallen sick, saw mother Magdalen day and night 
at their pillow, rendering them numerous services, 
which she continued during the three months 
they remained. 

When her own convent was said to be in danger 
by the approach of the enemy, she could not be 
induced to send home the novices, or the pension- 
ers, and our Lord did not disappoint her hope. 
.The number of the foundations of her institute 
Increasing, gave more employment to this good 
mother ; like the apostle, esteeming herself indebt- 
ed to all, she endeavoured to satisfy all the supe- 
riors who solicited her advice. 

Her zeal caused her to send two of her religious 
to join the Mother of the Incarnation, and her 
companions, who had sailed for Quebec the year 
before, from the Ursulines at Tours. She met 
great opposition on the part of their friends, though 
they were evidently called by God to the conver- 
sion of the little savages, but she happily tri- 
umphed over all; the archbishop having sanc- 
tioned the enterprise, as soon as the news of the 
happy navigation of the former religious arrived, 
She suffered immensely the whole year of their de- 
parture. Her life was once attempted, a musket 
being fired at her, while reading a letter at a win- 
dow. She was evidently preserved by miracle, the 
ball having perforated the wall near her. Her pain 
was greatly alleviated, on learning that those dear 
sisters were safely landed, and laboured with the 
others most zealously, in cultivating the vineyard 
of the Lord in Canada, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



141 



In the last years of her superiority, the troubles 
at Paris reduced the monastery to great distress. 
She actually saw herself with the care of 120 per- 
sons, and without meal, or corn, or even money to 
purchase either ; yet by her good management, the 
sisters were sufficiently provided with neees, 
saries. 

Her last triennial cost her more to accept and 
accomplish than the others, because of her age 
and weak sight ; yet she put her shoulders under 
the burden with such readiness, the better to 
follow the divine disposition, that the nuns were 
surprised. As her mind needed more repose, and 
that her body sunk under infirmity, and that she. 
relaxed none of her austerities, she felt it much. 
However, she supported it cheerfully to the end, 
and joyfully quitted it, at the age of seventy-two 
years, to the great regret of her religious. Let us 
now consider how she discharged her other func- 
tions. 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE OTHER CHARGES WHICH SHE EXERCISED 
IN THE MONASTERY. 

In the intervals of the superiority of the mother 
of St. Magdalen, she was six years mistress of 
novices, once Depositaire, and twice Assistant. 
Her sweetness toward the novices was incompara- 
ble ; she condescended to their inclinations as much 
as possible, and charitably supported their puer- 
ilities and ignorances, esteeming it a better plan, 
that they might gather more strength for the ser- 
vice of religion. Though her principal care was 
to form them to virtue, she did not neglect their 
health, nor any thing that concerned them. The 



142 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Spirit of God so animated the simple instructions 
which she gave them, that they had the desired 
effect. 

She dispensed with their observance of the 
austerities of the rule when necessary, but she 
never dispensed them from being submissive, sim- 
ple, punctual, mortified, and silent. How remote 
was she not from allowing them to run about, 
walk precipitately, or call persons at a distance. 
Desiring one day to correct a sister who sat in a 
position not quite modest in a religious, she desi- 
red another to kiss her feet at recreation, and 
thus reminded her of her fault. She used simi- 
lar inventions to amend without paining them, 
and treated the weak among them at all times 
with peculiar condescension. 

She received them not only with kindness and 
affability, but it might be said that she even di- 
vined their troubles, sometimes giving them reme- 
dies for them before they communicated with her. 
On one occasion she said to a novice, 0 my poor 
sister, how anxious the devil is to have you again 
in the world ! which was the case, for she at once 
confessed she felt a great wish to return. The 
good mother having laboured hard for her perse- 
verance, the novice made profession with great 
fervour, to her inexpressible joy. 

It was edifying to see her in so advanced an 
age abase herself, if we might so say, to all the 
practices of these infant religious. She took part 
in all their penances and devotions ; and during 
the advent made the nine prostrations every day 
with them, in honour of the abasements of the 
Word made flesh, though then scarcely able to 
walk. When giving them the spiritual exercises 
for profession, she endeavoured to follow them 
herself, to enter, as she used to say, into her first 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



143 



fervour, which indeed was not necessary. She 
endeavoured to make them women of prayer; 
and though she felt their sufferings deeply, she 
rejoiced, nevertheless, because they obliged them 
to recur more to God. 

To give these young persons a due esteem of 
virtue, she never spoke a word when they praised 
others for natural advantages ; but when they 
lauded them for those of grace she became elo- 
quent. Often after the reading of the medita- 
tion, being unable to restrain the interior fire 
which consumed her, she communicated it in 
most charming sentiments to her dear daughters. 

Though often consulted by the superioress on 
all the affairs of the house, because of her capa- 
city, she devoted some time every day to the in- 
struction of the uneducated novices : they were 
most dear to her at all times. A religious, see- 
ing her bathed in tears at the dismissal of a lay 
sister, expressed her surprise ; but mother Mag- 
dalen said, How sister can you forbid a mother 
to feel, when her very bowels are torn from her ! 

To accustom her novices to spirituality, she 
used to teach them to draw from all things judi- 
cious reflections. Was there anything related by 
them, Well, my children, - she would say, what 
does that teach us, what should we learn from it ? 
If somebody's faults happened to be mentioned, 
Behold, would she say, wherewith to instruct us ; 
behold what may teach us a useful lesson. 

At the profession of a novice, her joy was as 
great as that of an ambitious mother, who would 
see her child placed in the most eminent post in 
the universe. She spent the three years that 
nearly preceded her death in the noviceship with 
as much equality of temper as if she were but 
forty years old. The community again wished to 



144 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY* 



make her superioress, but she contrived to elude 
it : however, they succeeded in making her assis- 
tant, in the exercise of which office our Lord 
called her to himself, as we shall now see. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE DEATH OF MOTHER ST. MAGDALEN. 

For a long time the practice of mortification 
prepared this good religious for death, separa- 
ting her in such a manner from sensible things, 
that she was no longer bound to earth ex- 
cept by the- union of her body with her soul. 
IShe was so disengaged from her relations, that 
one of her nieces being ready to enter the monas- 
tery with the consent of the principal mothers, 
she testified so much repugnance, that they let 
her go to another in quality of lay sister. After 
wearing the habit some time, she was dismissed 
by the superioress, though greatly indebted to her 
good aunt; but mother Magdalen never- com- 
plained, and afterwards gave more marks of 
friendship to this religious. Another of her 
nieces having paid her a visit, she dismissed her 
after a quarter of an hour, saying she would re- 
commend her to God. Though the sisters who 
went to Canada were infinitely dear to her, and 
that she heard from them but once a year, she 
acknowledged on the eve of her death that she had 
deferred to read the letters they had written to 
her six months before, until it was time to answer 
them. 

She was no less dead to self than to creatures. 
Often in her illnesses she refused remedies, say- 
ing to her who presented them, Thank you, sister, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



145 



I only want Jesus Christ. So that Father St. 
Jure, Jesuit, said of her interior during the last 
year of her life, that it was in a state of perfect 
denudation, in which she sought and desired but 
God alone. 

She used to spend the last three days of each 
month in preparing for death. She caused two 
religious to draw up the order of the exercises for 
this occasion, from which Father St. Jure, to 
whom it was submitted, took his design of his 
book of spiritual exercises for preparing for death. 
She finished this preparation on the Sunday 
which preceded her death; making, as usual, her 
confession of the month. No longer regarding 
death but as the means of uniting her to her 
Sovereign Good, the delay of it would be insup- 
portable but for her submission to his blessed 
will. She commenced the fast of Lent, and con- 
tinued it until the 27th of February, the day she 
fell sick. Perceiving her absent from the morn- 
ing meditation, they went to her poor cell, where 
they already found her half dead, and almost 
without her senses. She was quickly carried to 
the infirmary, but it was evident her hour was 
come. She refused to allow a consultation of 
physicians, saying it was perfectly useless. She 
was offered some particular favours, but she gene- 
rously refused every thing that was not common 
to all. 

Having made great efforts to recover from her 
lethargy, she received the last sacraments, testi- 
fying that it gave her real pleasure to learn that 
her death was nearer than she thought. I don't 
fear it, said she, let us dispose ourselves ; and 
taking the crucifix in one hand, and the image of 
the blessed Virgin in the other, she calmly ex* 
10 



146 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



pected its approach. Immediately after the Ex- 
treme Unction she lost her senses and speech, 
and a little after, while they recited the prayers 
for the agonizing, she sweetly breathed her last at 
9 o'clock the 1st of March, 1657, aged 75 years, 
of which she had spent near fifty in the house, 
and worn the habit forty-four years. 

She died as she had lived, in so perfect a pov- 
erty, that most of her effects were useless, and 
not worth giving to the poor. She had a presen- 
timent of her death a year before it happened, 
from a noise heard over her cell by her novices. 
She herself heard it on another occasion, and was 
amazed, saying that the fracas of the city of 
Chartres, when besieged by the League, when se- 
veral bullets entered the house she lived in, was 
not so loud. 

When F. St. Jure heard of her death, he said 
he desired a similar end for all the religious of the 
monastery, and that her soul was attained to such 
a height of perfection that it needed but three 
days to separate it from the body, like a ripe fruit 
which falls from the tree the moment it is 
touched. 



CHAPTER V. 

A SUMMARY OF THE VIRTUES OF MOTHER SAINT 
MAGDALEN. 

The testimony of Father St. Jure to the perfec- 
tion of this good mother, whom he had known 
and directed for so many years, will alone suffice 
to fill us with veneration for her memory. All 
her life was a course of virtue ; she loved and 
pursued nothing else, but was in all circum- 
stances a worthy superior and a perfect subject. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



147 



A zeal full of sweetness animated her conduct, 
while a wonderful prudence directed it. We 
cannot say with what ardour she laboured for the 
welfare of the institute. It was she who got the 
constitutions printed, and caused the rules, re- 
garding the domestic order, to be drawn up on 
the model of the most ancient and modern of 
religious orders. 

She zealously laboured to preserve regularity, 
and rather suffered a novice who had been a 
benefactress of the house to leave it, than allow 
the infringement of an important rule. When 
she met with subjects humbled for their faults, 
she placed herself below them to support their 
weakness; but if she found them haughty and 
untractable, she was inexorable until they sub- 
mitted. She easily pardoned personal injuries; 
a girl having said very offensive things to her, as 
soon as she withdrew, the good mother warmly 
excused her as if she had received all possible 
friendship from her. 

She was always ready to satisfy her religious 
and hear what they had to say. Notwithstanding 
the little contrarieties inevitable in life, this good 
superioress was so cordial that she possessed the 
hearts of all her subjects ; there was not one 
among them who had not in her an entire confi- 
dence. Her vigilance was admirable in preserving 
concord and peace, without which a religious 
house is a hell, and in avoiding all that could di- 
minish it. She was extremely interested for all 
that regarded the spiritual good of particulars, 
as well as of the monastery in general, and left 
no means unemployed to advance it. She was 
sick with the sick, and died with the dying, spar- 
ing nothing that could relieve or even recreate 
them. It was said she had a particular charm to 



148 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



sweeten the bitterness of death ; it seemed that 
she opened heaven so to the poor invalids, that 
they had no more to do than to enter it, 

She established in her monastery the spirit of 
compassion towards the poor ; she provided entirely 
for one reduced family. Often she sent her dinner 
to the needy while she was superioress, particularly 
when something extraordinary was served up, 
saying, "that such meats were not fit; for her." 
When Picardy was desolated by famine and the 
sword, she sent thither a greater supply of neces- 
saries for the poor than was received from any 
other monastery. 

In her intercourse with seculars, which was as 
limited as possible, she principally studied to 
inspire them with a love of virtue and a horror of 
vice. She at first entered into their sentiments, 
and then, having gained their hearts, they opened 
themselves entirely to her, so that she was enabled 
to remedy their spiritual miseries. One time she 
converted a woman of very bad life by this means, 
and another time reconciled two married persons 
who had been for some time most cordial enemies. 
Her natural prudence was perfected by long expe- 
rience by the good advice she took, and the lights 
of the Holy Spirit. It appeared in employing her 
religious according to their talents, in discerning 
the attrait of God in souls, in her inviolable se- 
cresy and in seasonably reprehending their faults. 

The principal virtue of mother Magdalen, as 
inferior, was the study of all the occasions of 
practising virtue, and fidelity in embracing them 
without singularity or affectation. She had an 
insatiable hunger for obedience, patience, morti- 
fication, humility, and the other religious virtues. 
At prayer her countenance was all inflamed, and 
eeemed to emit rays. In action she was always 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



149 



seen attentive ; to please God she sought but Him 
in ail she did. She went to prayer from the 
most complicated business with as great recollec- 
tion as from a spiritual entertainment. She dis- 
sembled what she suffered from tooth-aches until 
she lost all her teeth by excessive pain before she 
reached the age of fifty. Her mortifications were 
rigid ; she warred continually against the senses, 
and seldom approached the fire, saying, "That 
nothing inconvenienced her but her sins." All 
her movements were perfectly well regulated, the 
Spirit of God dwelt on her tongue. She avoided 
equivocations most carefully, and, except when 
bound by her office of superioress, totally aban- 
doned the parlour, loving to "live hidden with 
Christ." She was always seeking her own abase- 
ment. When an occasion offered, she delighted 
to acknowledge that she was a poor girl, according 
to the world, and that she had nothing to boast of, 
■save that she was a daughter of religion. There 
is no act of humility which she did not exercise ; 
one of them has caused us the loss of the papers 
on which she had traced her sentiments — she 
burned them eight days before her death. We 
conclude by citing the testimony of Father 
Lallemant, S.J., regarding her, viz. "That he felt 
as happy in knowing M. Magdalen, the second 
foundress, as he did in knowing the first.'* 




o" 

■■j 
Q 
Q 
Q 

V 



151 



THE 

LIFE OF FATHER LEWIS LALLEMAXT, S.J. 

From the French of F. Peter Champion, of the 
same Holy Society. 



Father Lewis Lallemant, of the Society of 
Jesus, was born at Chalons, in the Province of 
Champagne, about the year 1578. His father 
sent him, while yet a child, to the Jesuits' college 
at Bourges. He was endowed with all the quali- 
fications of grace and nature necessary for the 
accomplishment of the great designs which God had 
upon him; an excellent understanding, a solid 
judgment, a mild and agreeable temper, a great 
love for study, an extreme horror for sin, an 
exalted idea of the service of God, and a particu- 
lar attractive for the interior life. 

Child though he was, he practised interior 
recollection without knowing it. It is necessary 
to remain within — I should not, at least, wholly go 
forth — was a maxim he learned even then of the 
Holy Ghost, and it was so deeply engraved in his 
young heart, that he held a continual watch over 
himself, and avoided nothing so much as effusing 
himself on external things. Having a great devo- 
tion to the blessed Mother of God, he entered 
into the congregation established in her honour in 
the college at Bourges ; this was his first novice- 
ship for the religious life which he already resolv- 
ed to embrace when his age permitted. 

The idea of perfection which God had developed 
before him incessantly presented itself to his 



152 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



mind, and appeared so charming and so amiable 
that the desire he felt for acquiring it, some- 
times when at recreation with his companions, 
caused him such transports that his countenance 
became inflamed, his eyes sparkled, and he was 
obliged to withdraw and abandon himself in secret 
to the movements of grace. Having completed 
his course of humanity and one year of rhetoric 
at Bourges, his father sent him to Verdun to 
spend a second year in studying this science. He 
did so with great success, and having petitioned 
to be received into the Society of Jesus, he was 
admitted into the noviceship of Naney, 10th 
December 1605, being then in the eighteenth 
year of his age. 

God, in his great mercy, inspired him from the 
commencement with a correct idea of the perfec- 
tion St. Ignatius proposed to his children in 
Christ. The life and conduct of this holy Patri- 
arch was the model he chose to imitate, and he 
endeavoured so earnestly to mortify the activity 
of his mind and to subject to grace all the move- 
ments of his heart according to his example, that 
his former acquaintance were amazed to see that 
he had acquired in so short a time that peace of 
mind and equality of temper which is the accom- 
paniment of a consummate virtue. 

After his noviciate, F. Lewis studied philoso- 
phy, and afterwards theology at Pont-a-Mousson, 
a continual sickness of the head and stomach, 
with which he was troubled, not allowing him to 
be employed in the regency of the lower classes ac- 
cording to the custom of the Society. He made 
his solemn profession of the four vows at Paris, 
28th October 1621. He taught in divers places 
the speculative sciences during the space of twelve 
years, and was afterwards for four years rector of 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



153 



the novicesliip and master of novices, three years 
director of the second noviceship and prefect of 
the higher classes, and some months rector of the 
college of Bourges, in which he himself had re- 
ceived the first rudiments of learning. Behold the 
suite of his employs, of which he so perfectly ac- 
quitted himself, that he may be ranked amongst 
the most illustrious subjects of the Society. But 
though fit for all, it is nevertheless true to say, 
that the government and direction of souls was 
the function for which he had received most 
talent, as we shall now show. 

The divine Spirit, who wished to make of Father 
Lewis an accomplished director capable of forming 
a number of others, not only served him for 
principal master in the spiritual life, as we before 
remarked, but inspired him with a particular 
devotion for His adorable person, discovered to 
him the most hidden mysteries of grace, and com- 
municated to him His precious gifts with such 
liberality as He only uses towards those whom He 
designs to raise to a most eminent sanctity. 

Thus the fear of the Lord, which is the basis of 
the spiritual edifice, was deeply engraven in the 
soul of this father, and accompanied by the other 
virtues which it invariably introduces and con- 
serves — humility, purity, mortification, and disen- 
gagement from all things earthly. The knowledge 
he had of his nothingness, of the corruption of his 
nature, of the greatness of God, and the creature's 
consequent dependance, held him in continual 
abasement before this great Majesty, caused him 
to love his own abjection, and lose no occasion of 
practising humility. The annihilation of God 
the Son in the incarnation was his model of self- 
abasement, and the Sacred Heart of the incarnate 
Word, the school wherein he learned how to put it 



154 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



in practice. In this divine academy it was that 
he learned to forget himself, to remain buried in 
the ruins of his own nothingness, so that he 
no longer spoke or thought of what regarded him, 
no more than if he had not been in existence, 
unless obliged by necessity, or carried to it by an 
impulse of grace. His .interior and exterior 
exhaled nothing but humility ; all he did was dono 
without precipitate eagerness, and as if he wished 
to conceal it from himself. Being a declared 
enemy to ostentation, he delighted more in co- 
operating secretly in the good works wrought by 
others, than in undertaking them himself ; although 
he appeared not in their execution, he often had 
the greatest share in it, either by his cares or 
advice. He judged that superiors should thus act 
towards their inferiors, interesting themselves in 
their labours, favouring their enterprises, employ- 
ing them in the occasions which offer of procuring 
the glory of God, and not wish to do all alone, 
thus charging themselves with a multitude of 
external occupations, which often hinder them 
from applying as much as is necessary to the 
government of the house. He said that inferiors, 
too, were hereby encouraged, seeing themselves 
assisted in their functions by those who hold tho 
place of God in their regard. 

The spirit of filial fear which Father Lewis 
possessed from his infancy, was the faithful guar- 
dian of his baptismal grac e, and the 'divine conser- 
vator of his chastitj r . The father, who heard his 
general confession in his last illness, a most pious 
and prudent soul, protested afterwards that in 
case of necessity he would not hesitate to prove 
on oath that Father Lallemant had never com- 
mitted mortal sin, and possessed chastity in such 
perfection, that he seemed to hold nothing of 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



♦155 



original corruption, and never had a temptation 
contrary to it. 

It was a leading maxim with Father Lewis, that 
a person makes no proficiency in virtue, but in 
proportion as he advances in purity of heart, 
which is the shortest and surest way to arrive at 
the divine union, and the infallible means of dis- 
posing one's self for divine communications; 
hence there was nothing which he more earnestly 
laboured to acquire. It was for this end he un- 
ceasingly watched over his interior, that he so 
carefully examined the movements of his heart, 
and had such frequent recourse to the sacrament 
of penance. Daily confession was one of the 
points he most recommended to such among the 
community as he saw touched with a particular 
desire of their perfection, and it was his wish that 
they should accuse themselves in the sacred tri- 
bunal of the least irregularity, and render an 
account there of ail that concerned their spiritual 
conduct. It was his own practice, and as he 
invariably brought to confession all the disposi- 
tions required, viz. a lively faith in Jesus Christ in 
the person of the priest, a perfect confidence in 
the power committed to him, an humble and 
amorous contrition for his faults, a great zeal to 
atone for them — he sensibly perceived the effects 
of the sacrament, the proper grace of which is a 
great purity of soul. 

He was so faithful to grace, that ho never 
deliberately committed a single fault. As soon 
as he perceived a shadow of sin, he at once cut it 
short, and Father Rigoleuc testifies, that during 
recreation he was sometimes remarked to break 
off in the middle of a sentence in order to follow 
the interior light which manifested some imperfec- 
tion in that which he was about to say. 



156 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



So far from thinking of gratifying the body at 
the expense of the soul, he only studied to morti- 
fy it. It was said by his intimate friends, that 
his corporal macerations were above his strength, 
and mainly contributed to shorten his life. As 
for interior mortification, which is the noblest 
part of the spiritual sacrifice, he practised it with- 
out relaxation, rigorously combating all his incli- 
nations, and subjecting them to the Spirit of God ; 
so that by a perfect victory over his passions, he ar- 
rived at that happy state of interior death, -wherein 
nature being perfectly subject to grace, places no 
more difficulty in the way to that divine life which 
the Holy Ghost wishes to communicate to the 
soul. 

This good Father was greatly in love with holy 
poverty, so abhorred by the world. He no sooner 
enlisted in the service of Him, who " being rich, 
made himself poor for our love," than he re- 
nounced all, save what was purely indispensable. 
The vilest and least convenient things were the 
objects of his choice ; the furniture of his cell con- 
sisted only of a poor bed without a roof, a table, 
a breviary, a bible, two chairs, a stool to kneel on, 
and three or four books with which he could not 
dispense. He delighted in being always in 
want of something, and concealed his wants and 
inconveniences more carefully than a miser hides 
his wealth, lest the charity of the superiors might 
deprive him of an occasion of suffering the 
effects of poverty. But he did not confine the 
exercise of this holy virtue to the renunciation of 
things merely external ; on the contrary, ho 
carried it to the highest point to which it can 
ascend, a general disengagement from creatures, 
and that perfect nakedness of spirit, which, rais- 
ing itself above the gifts of God, seeks Him alone, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



157 



beholds Him alone, and attaches itself to Him 
alone. It was by this means he attained so pure 
a love of God. 

He was naturally courageous, and possessed of 
a firmness of mind superior to every obstacle ; 
but his principal strength proceeded from grace, 
which investing him with the Spirit of God, caused 
him to undertake and suffer all for the interests 
of this adorable Being. And he felt this divine 
energy: for nothing was capable of arresting him, 
neither the difficulty of the enterprise, nor the 
opposition of the world, nor human considerations, 
nor the fear of bad success ; it was enough for 
him to know that God willed something of him, 
to cause him to labour for its accomplishment, and 
make him rest satisfied of ultimate success. 

Though his health was not robust he never 
spared himself, always laboured without relaxation 
in the discharge of his office, and in all occasions 
in which charity engaged him for the glory of 
God and the service of his neighbour. Fervour 
of spirit served him in lieu of bodily strength, 
and supported him in such sort that he was inde- 
fatigable in labour. 

Patience and sweetness are the noblest and 
most solid proofs of strength of mind, and Father 
Lallemant excelled in both. He suffered with so 
good a grace, that no one could see he endured 
any thing. He was so far master of himself, that 
the least inequality of mind or temper was never 
remarked in him, and he possessed his soul in a 
peace which was even indicated on his counte- 
nance. The supernatural energy with which he 
was endowed, caused him to demand of God, like 
St. Ignatius, to be always contradicted in his 
designs, not only to have an occasion of suffering, 
but also that his enterprises might be so -much 



158 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY 



the more glorious to God, as they cost him more 
to bring them to a happy issue. For the space of 
three years he made applications to be sent on the 
foreign missions. That of Canada was the object 
of his choice, for though the conversions were 
fewer in that quarter, the labours were heavier and 
less splendid, and it contributed more than the 
others to the sanctification of the missioners. But 
not being suffered to go there, he endeavoured at 
all times to procure it zealous labourers, ancl to 
render it in France all the services that depended 
on him. 

The love of missions was generated by that 
piety, which causing him to regard man as the 
image of God, ornamented with the characters of 
His resemblance, and redeemed by the blood of 
his Son, inspired him with a sensible regret for 
his loss, and an ardent desire of procuring his 
salvation. This divine gift, as rare as it is pre- 
cious, is particularly necessary to evangelical 
labourers, lest study and the bustle of exterior 
functions should dry up the heart, and leave it 
without interior spirit. 

The unction of Father Lallemant's piety ap- 
peared in all his actions, particularly in those 
which immediately regard God ; as the Divine 
Office, the Holy Mass, the Administration of the 
Sacraments ; even in making the sign of the cross, 
or in taking the holy water he evinced a devo- 
tion equally tender as solid. He had no greater 
delight than in familiarly conversing with God, 
calling prayer the felicity of the earth, and devo- 
ting to it more time than to any other occupation ; 
sometimes he passed whole nights in this sacred 
exercise. One day, being alone with one of his 
friends, he avowed that he had no difficulty in 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



159 



raising his mind to God, that in fact it was as 
easy to do so as to take respiration. 

Nothing affected him but the divine interest. 
His whole interior occupation was to discover in 
each particular thing the designs of God, and 
then offer himself to execute them according to 
the lights of grace, and by the spirit of Jesus 
Christ. He sensibly experienced the direction of 
the Holy Spirit, even before he attained that state 
denominated by mystics, passive and supernatural. 
Hence, when he went to this exercise, he found him- 
self illuminated with a divine ray which showed 
him the subject and the division of points, and ena- 
bled him to form the acts, as he testifies in his wri- 
tings. His great devotion was the Incarnate Word ; 
all the powers of his soul were filled with the divine 
states and mysteries of His adorable person. That 
of theHoly Eucharist was the object of his particu- 
lar devotion, and the most ordinary theme of his 
entertainments ; in speaking of it he seemed to 
surpass himself. All his pious practices had 
reference to the Man- God, and the love of this 
blessed Lord was the principle of his whole con- 
duct. Nothing rendered the virtues so amiable 
in his eyes as to regard them deified, as it were, 
in the person of Jesus Christ ; even the most 
difficult, in this view, had for him particular 
attractive s. 

From his tender piety towards Jesus Christ 
proceeded that towards the Holy Virgin and St. 
Joseph, and to those angels who are specially 
devoted to the Word made fiesh. He every day 
recited a part of the rosary of tUe mother of God ; 
but he honoured her more by his sublime senti- 
ments of love, esteem, and confidence, than by 
any outward practices. He had an extraordinary 
grace for inspiring all with devotion towards St. 



160 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Joseph, and he counselled those who wished to 
enter on the interior life, to propose to themselves 
Jesus Christ as the model of humility, the Holy 
Virgin as the pattern of purity, and St. Joseph as 
the example of the interior life. It was easy to 
perceive that such was his own practice, for he 
most happily expressed these blessed models in 
himself. 

He every day performed four little exercises in 
honour of St. Joseph, whence he drew marvellous 
advantages. The first two were for the morning, 
and the other two for the afternoon. The first, 
for the morning, was an elevation of mind towards 
the heart of St. Joseph, to remark how docile it 
had been to grace ; and then a look on his own 
heart, to acknowledge his infidelity and to humble 
and encourage it. The second was to consider how 
perfectly St. Joseph united the interior life with 
his external occupations, and observe in what he 
departed from this model. By this only exercise 
he made so great a progress, that towards the 
close of life he never went forth from his interior 
solitude, and his application to external things 
only increased instead of diminishing his union 
with God. The third was to consider the admira- 
ble intelligence this blessed saint had of the 
virginity and maternity of his holy spouse, and 
his humble submission to the angel's announce- 
ment of the mystery of the Incarnation. The 
fourth was to represent to himself the homage of 
adoration and love which St. Joseph rendered the 
holy infant, Jesus, and to ask a participation 
therein. Not satisfied with honouring this blessed 
holy patriarch during life, he desired not to be 
separated from him even in death, and hence 
when dying he besought them to bury with him 
an image of his beloved patron. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 161 

It was perceived on different occasions, that St. 
Joseph never refused him any favour which he 
asked; he himself acknowledged it to such as he 
wished to make devout towards him. Father 
Paul Ragueneau, and Father James Nouet, both 
regents of the lower classes in the college of 
Bourges, while F. Lallemant was rector, evinc- 
ing great dispositions to virtue, he took a particu- 
lar care of their spiritual advancement. One year 
as the feast of St. Joseph approached, having called 
them, he promised to obtain for them all they 
desired, through the intercession of this great saint; 
provided they exhorted their respective pupils 
to be devout to him, and to perform something 
extraordinary in his honour. The two regents 
promised, and induced all the boys of their classes 
to communicate on the festival, and then went to 
propose their request to the Father rector. Father 
Nouet begged the grace of speaking, and writing 
worthily of our Lord, but next day told F. Lalle- 
mant, that after more consideration, he judged 
that another grace would be more conducive to 
his perfection. The father replied, that no alter- 
ation could be made, and that the first grace 
which he had promised him was already bestowed, 
as indeed subsequently appeared in the writings 
of this Father ; particularly in his great work of 
the man of prayer, or meditations on the hidden* 
public, and glorious life of Christ, which cost him 
several years' labour, and was concluded only a 
short time before his death. As to Father Ra- 
gueneau, who recounted this incident to Madame 
Marian, a religious Benedictine of Montmartre, 
he was not willing to tell what he demanded of 
St. Joseph. It is likely it was some interior grace 
which his humility obliged him to conceal, with 
11 



162 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



many other extraordinary favours, which he had re- 
ceived from heaven, for he was a perfect religious 
man, of a vast and comprehensive mind, a singu- 
lar penetration, a solid judgment, an heroic 
courage, an holy simplicity, an admirable confi- 
dence in God, and a consummate experience in 
spiritual things, a man, in fine, entirely detached 
from all temporal interest, and who breathed 
nothing save the glory of God and the salvation 
of souls. He was one of the first missioners of 
New France, and as we have learned of Fathers 
Poncet and Le Mercier, two holy religious who 
had been his colleagues in the ministry, the per- 
son who had best served the church of Canada, 
and most justly deserved to be styled its apostle. 
After repassing to France, to be Procurator of his 
dear mission, he manifested a great talent for 
direction. Providence commited to him a num- 
ber of souls, many of whom were conducted by 
extraordinary ways; these he assisted by his letters 
and exhortations. Persons wrote to him from all 
quarters, and his answers conveyed the light and 
unction of the Holy Ghost into all hearts, until he 
died at Paris, the eighth of September, 1680, aged 
75 years. But let us return to Father Lallemant. 

This holy man was of the opinion of those who 
believe, that when the Incarnation of the Son of 
God was proposed to the angels, besides the 
homage they in common rendered to this divine 
Person, some of them devoted themselves parti- 
cularly to his service, and that of his blessed 
mother; that they accompanied them during their 
mortal life, that they try to inspire us with devo- 
tion to these blessed Persons, and render us for this 
end all the helps they can. Hence it was that 
he specially honoured these holy spirits, and had 
made an alliance with them to extend, as much 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



163 



as possible, the empire of Jesus and Mary. Ho 
never offered Mass without praying the angels of 
the Incarnate Word to accompany him to the altar, 
nor did he ever recite his office, without inviting 
such of them as form the retinue of the holy virgin, 
to join him in chaunting the praises of God. 

As soon as he formed the design of entering 
our society, he regarded St, Ignatius as his father, 
entertained for him the love and respect of a true 
son, and recurred to him with confidence in all 
his wants. The gift of piety* with which he was 
replenished, produced in him a perfect submission 
to his superiors, a fraternal kindness for his in- 
feriors, and a paternal charity towards all man- 
kind. It is this precious donation of the divine 
Spirit which perfects obedience, causing us to 
regard but God alone in superiors. Father Lalle- 
mant was truly in this disposition, he regulated 
his whole conduct by obedience, as the true inter- 
preter of the will of God. To" do so with more 
perfection, he followed the advice of St. Francis 
de Sales ; "Demand nothing, refuse nothing" not 
even permitting himself the least desire for, or 
repugnance to any thing, and was ever ready to 
do what was most distasteful and laborious. As 
soon as he knew the wish of the superiors, he 
never waited for an express command. 

When master of novices, he most earnestly 
recommended to them the practice of this holy 
virtue; for five or six months successively, he 
caused them to make it the matter of the parti- 
cular examen, saying, "Dont he weary, my children, 
if I retain you so long in the virtue of obedience. 
If you can only become perfect in this, you ivill 
he assured of attaining an eminent degree of 
sanctity" His exactness in the observance of the 
rule proceeded from the same principle. As he 



184 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



considered that they marked in detail what God 
required of him, he had them in singular venera- 
tion, and observed them with that affection which 
is peculiar to perfect religious. 

But it is in his conduct towards his equals and 
inferiors, that his piety shone with most brilliancy; 
his charity having in an eminent degree all the 
qualities which St. Paul attributes to this virtue; 
no person could be more mild, more patient, more 
humble, more disinterested, more condescending. 
His natural affability, engaging manners, and rare 
modesty in his exterior deportment, mingled with 
sweetness and gravity, together with that divine, 
/ know not what, which appeared on his counte- 
nance and in his words, gave him entrance to all 
hearts. No sooner had a person once spoken 
to him, than he eagerly sought his conversation 
and acquaintance. 

He so well knew how to accommodate himself to 
the persons whom Providence caused to address 
themselves to him, to support their defects, to 
seek occasions of benefitting them, that by his 
patience and condescension, he absolutely became 
master of and quite ruled them. 

However busily engaged, he received all who 
came with a smiling countenance and a kind 
heart; he seemed to have nothing to do but to 
hear those who wished to speak to him, and never 
appeared weary of their conversation, however 
importunate. Some of the Fathers who made 
their second noviciate under this holy director, 
as remarks F. Rigoleuc, were at first somewhat 
opposed to his sentiments, but his sweetness and 
humility wrought so far on them, that before the 
expiration of three months they were all perfectly 
satisfied, and said one to the other, that they had 
never seen so holy a Director. 

God often permitted that some of those who 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



165 



should have most kindness for him as superiors, 
or more submission and respect as disciples and 
inferiors, might forget themselves in his regard, 
and give him pain and annoyance; but so far from 
testifying resentment thereat, or uttering the 
least complaint, he more willingly and joyfully 
endeavoured to serve them. The greatest punish- 
ment he desired them, was their greater progress 
in perfection, and he one day avowed to a friend 
that this desire was so violent that it almost con- 
sumed him; it is certain that it more contributed 
than his rigorous penances to shorten his life. 

A little time after he was appointed rector of 
the college of Bourges, a brother who performed 
the office of baker, one day, came and complained 
to him roughly that he was overburdened with 
work, and requested he would send some person 
to labour in his place. The good father after 
hearing him peaceably, promised to relieve him, 
and then went himself to the bakery, and began 
to kneed the dough with might and main. When 
the brother's transport had a little ceased, he 
returned to his employment; but what was his 
surprise on finding the Father rector supplying 
his place ! Suffice it to say, that, throwing him- 
self at the feet of his good superior, he sincerely 
repented of and demanded pardon for his fault. 

Father Lallemant acted thus on similar occa- 
sions, saying, that every day's experience con- 
vinced hinl more and more that superiors ought 
rather make themselves loved than feared ; that 
the means of preserving regularity is not severe 
penance, but paternal kindness on the part of the 
superiors, and their application in providing for 
the wants of those under their care, and in con- 
serving them in the spirit of prayer and the 
interior life. His great talents gained him as 



166 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



much esteem as his charity acquired him affection; 
for, besides his natural qualities of an excellent 
understanding, and a fund of good sense, together 
with the lights acquired bj a profound study of 
theology, he was also wonderfully favoured by 
those internal illuminations, which God never 
fails to communicate to his ministers for their 
own conduct and that of others. What he says 
of the operations of the Holy Ghost in his Spiri- 
tual Doctrine, as collected by Father Rigoleuc, 
sufficiently manifests him one of those men, who 
have best understood the spiritual life. He spoke 
divinely of it, and those who made their third 
year of noviceship under his conduct, were amazed 
at the abundance of his lights; they could only 
proceed from, as indeed they bore, the marks 
of his union with God, for he had no leisure to 
study, and he spsnt so much time in praying and 
speaking to his novices, that scarcely had he any re- 
maining to prepare the exhortations and discourses 
which he made them every day, and yet they 
were so excellent and so full of unction, that one 
would think he had done nothing but prepare them. 

Hence it was that the most ancient and most 
spiritual among the Fathers were so charmed 
with Father Lallemant, that they would not wish 
to lose a moment of recreation, as he used when 
at it to speak much of spiritual things. One of the 
principal Fathers averred, that he never convers- 
ed with this holy man, without acquiring some 
new information ; whether regarding the sense of 
the holy scripture, in which he was admirably 
versed, or some point of theology or spirituality. 
Father Julian Hayneuve, who by his writings and 
heroic virtues has merited the veneration of all, 
being rector of the noviciate at Rouen, while 
Father Lallemant was director of those who were 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



167 



in the third year of their probation, wished to be 
one of his disciples, and assisted with the novices 
at his discourses, saying, that he could hear none 
such elsewhere. 

It is incredible what weight his exhortations had, 
and what an impression they made on souls. That 
celestial gift which St. Paul styles the grace of the 
word, was eminent in him, whether for exhorting, or 
intimidating, or consoling. It was often remarked, 
that one sole word from him calmed a troubled 
soul, or vanquished an obstinate will. Some judged, 
and with reason, that F. Lallemant was among 
the Jesuits of France, what Father Alvarez had 
been among the Jesuits of Spain ; by his practical 
knowledge of mystical theology, and the many 
interior men who went out from his school. It 
has been remarked, that all those who had made 
under him their first and second noviceship, have 
distinguished themselves by their religious con- 
duct, and their spirit of recollection and interior 
life. He himself recognized that God had given 
him a particular talent for the direction of the 
members of the society, and avowed that he mani- 
fested to him, his designs on them, the hindrances 
they offered, and the road by which they should 
walk, in order to arrive at perfection. He used 
to say, that the sanctity to which they were called, 
surpassed all that can be imagined, and that he 
who saw the graces God has prepared for each 
of them, would imagine them destined for a St. 
[gnatius, or a St. Francis Xavier. 

This good father was also endowed with an 
habitual gift of counsel or discernment, so that 
in all cases he could distinguish what was best 
and most suited to the circumstances of time and 
place, and the fittest to promote the glory of God. 
It was in consequence of this light that seven or 



168 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



eight years before his death, he made a vow to do 
in all circumstances that which he esteem&Anost 
perfect. He said that what we should try toRnitate 
in the saints is not that which appears most extra- 
ordinary, but their fidelity in following, in minor 
matters, the movements of grace ; and that if we 
were equally faithful as they, we would excel 
them in merits, though we might not do nor suffer 
the same things. His manner of governing was 
wholly supernatural ; he deplored the communi- 
ties which were conducted by superiors full of 
human prudence; he styled it the ruin of obe- 
dience, and the destruction of that confidence 
which inferiors should have in those who hold in 
their regard the place of God. 

He never precipitated any thing, never took a 
resolution without consulting the Holy Ghost, 
reckoning that an over earnest zeal which pre- 
vents grace, and a fervour too ardent which pays 
not sufficient attention to the interior light, is 
one of the defects which most hinders the opera- 
tions of God in souls, and prevents the gospel 
labourers from reaping the fruits of their ministry. 

Father Lallemant was never known to commit 
a fault against prudence, and possessed in a great 
plenitude, the gifts of wisdom and knowledge. Few 
have more deeply penetrated the mysteries of the 
Man-God. In fact, he could say, like St. Paul, 
that he had received the grace of manifesting 
to men, the incomprehensible riches of Jesus Christ. 
He did not stop at the external of these holy 
mysteries, as is generally done. The gift of un- 
derstanding enabled him to penetrate the spirit, 
and manifested to him the admirable dispositions 
of the interior of Jesus, his blessed mother, and 
the saints. The high opinion he entertained of 
the Holy Virgin, was founded on what he had 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



169 



discovered of her incomparable perfections, and 
the wonders operated in her from the moment of 
her immaculate conception, and during her life ; 
but especially when raised to the divine maternity 
at her annunciation. He supposed that she has 
not only been preserved from original stain, but 
even from the obligation of contracting it. 

Among all the saints he was most devout to, and 
knew most of, were St. Joseph and St. Igna- 
tius. It would seem that the latter had communica- 
ted to him a portion of his spirit, and enabled him 
to impart it to his children. He used to say that 
what the world knew of the graces and virtues of this 
great saint, was almost nothing in comparison to the 
perfection of his interior and that fund of grace 
which was hidden, as it were, in the bottom of his soul. 

He possessed a particular grace for penetrating 
the sense of the holy scripture, and explaining it 
to others ; he incessantly studied it, but it was 
rather by the way of prayer than by interpreters. 
He sometimes demanded of our Lord, for the 
space of a year, the meaning of a single passage 
in the sacred volume. Nor was the gift of intelli- 
gence confined to divine things, although they 
may be deemed its principal object ; it also ex- 
tended to human ones, to discover in them the 
designs of God, and their connexion with, or op- 
position to His reign in souls : pure and recol- 
lected souls can alone enjoy this favour. As 
Father Lallemant had God in view in all things, 
the divine presence, together with the purity of 
his intentions, served him as a torch to penetrate 
the artifices of the human mind, and to discern 
the designs of God from the intrigues and inter- 
ests of men, and to distinguish in each circum- 
stance what came from the creature, from that 
which proceeded from the Creator 



170 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY 1 . 



He maintained that those who closely observe 
their interior, and vigilantly watch over the 
movements of their heart, have a great facility in 
penetrating the hearts of others, whether as a 
recompense from the Lord for the study they 
make of their own interior, or that the experience 
of what they feel in themselves, enables them to 
judge correctly of what passes in others. Accord- 
ing to this principle, it is no wonder that he 
himself penetrated the secrets of hearts. One 
of our society has deposed that being at con- 
fession with this holy man, he mentioned to 
him a sin of which he had neglected to accuse 
himself, and that another time he declared to him 
the ideas which filled his mind, together with all the 
particularities of a temptation which assailed him. 

Another having gone to declare to him a secret 
wound of his soul, was so overcome by shame on 
entering the chamber, that he changed his mind 
and began to speak of something else : but Father 
Lallemant, who knew all, replied as distinctly to 
the object of his visit, as if he had entirely mani- 
fested it. In this manner he preserved several of 
his spiritual children from the dangers into which 
they were ready to fall, confirmed others in their 
vocation, and rekindled the fervour of those who 
began to wax cold in the service of God. 

The gift of wisdom perfects that of understand- 
ing, giving to it an unction, without which all intel- 
ligence would be dry and barren, as this good father 
experienced. The unction of the Divine Spirit 
taught him all things, and the visions and celestial 
sweets with which he was often favoured in prayer, 
and during the divine Sacrifice, developed before 
him what our mysteries have of most concealed. 

One night our Lord having awakened him, 
saying, It was then the hour on which the mystery 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



171 



of the Incarnation was accomplished, and that he 
ought to dispose himself to participate in the 
grace conferred on the Holy Virgin in this mys- 
tery, he immediately rose and commenced his 
prayer, in the fervour of which he felt as if inte- 
riorly invested and all-penetrated with the Man- 
God, by an intimate union which purified his body 
and soul in a manner quite inexplicable. At the 
same time the Holy Virgin appeared, and calling 
him by the appellation of son, assured him that 
she tenderly loved him, and exhorted him to be 
singularly devout to the Sacred Humanity of her 
divine Jesus, which was, she said, almost forgotten 
by mankind. Whereupon he took the liberty 
of asking her for two favours ; the first, that he 
might be always mindful of her, for it pained him 
to pass any length of time without remembering 
her ; the second, that he might never be separated 
from that adorable Humanity, to which he had 
undeservedly consecrated himself. The Blessed 
Virgin promised him these graces, and in effect he 
ever after equally enjoyed the presence of Jesus 
and Mary. 

By this promise of the Blessed Virgin, he sub- 
sequently repulsed a temptation of distrust, with 
which he was molested ; but afterwards reflecting 
on the confidence he felt in this promise he became 
disquieted, until the Holy Virgin reappeared 
and assured him that his hope was not presump- 
tuous, since it was founded not on himself but on 
the grace she had promised to obtain for him, and 
that these sort of promises are always conditional, 
and suppose the fidelity of those to whom they 
are made, to which, if he were wanting^he would 
have great reason to fear being lost, notwithstand- 
ing the graces she had obtained for him. 

During the third year of his noviceship, our 



172 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Lord gave him a second angel of a superior order 
as master and conductor in the spiritual life. 
One of his angels, or a saint, sometimes awakened 
him at night, and invited him to pray ; generally 
it was our Lord himself, or St. Ignatius who did 
him this favour. This blessed founder miracu- 
lously cured him of a disease he had while study- 
ing philosophy, and during his second noviceship, 
obtained of God his entire deliverence from a 
continual head-ache which he suffered since the 
ninth year of his age. 

Being one day attacked by a violent temptation, 
he had recourse to prayer, whereupon St. Teresa 
appeared, and having chased away his enemy, 
restored peace to his soul. Another day, while 
praying in the church of the noviceship at Rouen, 
St. Joseph visited him and conferred on him great 
graces which have never been made public, no 
more than an infinity of other celestial favours 
which consoled him in his pains, fortified him in 
his labours, and supported him in the enterprises 
which he undertook for God's greater glory, and 
the good of souls. It is certain that he had seve- 
ral revelations as to the state of the souls in 
Purgatory, that he witnessed their sufferings, 
knew the cause of their pains, and often had the 
consolation of seeing the pomp of their entry into 
heaven. That some saint, for example, St. Igna- 
tius, presented to the Holy Virgin the soul of one of 
his children just emerged from this place of pain, 
that she presented it to our Lord, that He gra- 
ciously received it and placed it on a throne of 
glory, to the great joy of all the heavenly host. 

The prayers and other spiritual exercises of 
this holy man were generally accompanied by 
celestial consolations. He faithfully practised 
what he so earnestly recommended to others, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



L73 



viz. to abandon himself entirely to the conduct 
of the Holy Ghost. He did so in his infancy, and 
his whole life was but a perpetual act of de pen- 
dance on the direction of this Divine Spirit, who, 
having filled hirn with his gifts, rendered him 
most pliant to all his movements. The interior 
law which this divine person of the Trinity had 
engraven on his heart, was his principal rule ; 
he followed it in all cases, and never acted but by 
it. His whole conduct was supernatural ; his sen- 
timents, words, and actions, appeared to come 
from a fund wholly possessed by God ; not a single 
defect was remarked in them. His interior and 
exterior perfectly corresponded ; his interior life 
was hidden with Christ in God ; and the spirit of 
this divine Saviour was manifested in his exterior 
life as in a mirror, so that no person could look 
upon him without being touched with devotion. 

He has passed without contradiction for one of 
the most perfect Jesuits of his time, and the most 
filled with the spirit of our holy founder, St. Igna- 
tius. The superiors of many religious orders, 
particularly those of the Carmelites and the Visi- 
tation Nuns, as well as the greatest spiritualists in 
the places where he abode, held a close and holy 
intercourse with him and consulted him as the 
oracle of the Holy Ghost, on their own conduct and 
that of those whom they directed. All his disci- 
ples, particularly F. John Joseph Surin and F. 
John Rigoleuc, esteemed him a saint. The writ- 
ings of both these holy men sufficiently attest that 
they had perfectly imbibed the spirit of their good 
master ; we have never met any one who did not 
speak of him with admiration. His reputation 
passed into foreign countries. Heaven miracu- 
lously disclosed his merit to Mother Louisa of the 
Ascension, a religious of St. Clare, who then livec 



174 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



at Carion in Spain, filling mankind with amaze- 
ment at the wonders which grace operated in her, 
having beheld in spirit the great height of per- 
fection to which Father Lalleniant was raised, 
she desired to form with him a holy intimacy, and 
on meeting some persons who were going to Rouen, 
she begged them to salute the holy man on her 
part, and recommend her to his prayers. 

It were desirable that God might have prolonged 
the life of this good father to old age, as the inter- 
ests of his kingdom seemed to require ; but the 
divine judgments are inscrutable, and he decreed 
to call him to himself in the prime of life. The 
superiors, remarking that his great labours in the 
noviciate of Rouen completed the destruction of 
his health, made him prefect of the higher studies 
at Bourges, and afterwards rector of that college ; 
but during the whole time he only languished for 
death, regarding it as a passage from this state of 
corruption, where the law of sin reigns in spite of 
us, to that happy liberty where the sight of God 
renders man impeccable. In his last agony he 
took in one hand his crucifix, and in the other 
the image of the Holy Virgin, and alternately 
gazed at both with such love and confidence as 
moved all present to tears, and in these pious 
sentiments breathed his last sigh on the 5th of 
April, being Thursday in Holy Week, 1635, in the 
forty-seventh year of his age, of which he spent 
twenty-nine in the society. 

When the news of his death was spread through 
the city, all ran to the college to get a sight of a 
person whom they considered a saint. His fune- 
ral was performed with great solemnity. Different 
revelations have been received of his glory, and 
many favours received, it is believed, through his 
intercession. 



175 



PAUL KOTSKA, BROTHER OF ST. 
STANISLAUS. 

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF ABBE C AKRON. 



Paul Kotska, born in the year 1548, was the 
eldest of the children of John Kotska, senator of 
Poland, and of Margaret Kriska, sister of the 
Palatine of Masovia. As soon as he was capable 
of applying to study, his parents confided him 
and young Stanislaus his brother (now canonized) 
to the tutelage of a governor called Bilinski, under 
whose conduct both were sent to the Jesuits' 
College at Vienna. During their residence there, 
Paul evinced dispositions very unfavourable to 
virtue, though all about him exhorted to its prac- 
tice : the college being suppressed, the students 
were scattered through the city, each one hav- 
ing chosen a lodging according to his taste; 
Paul, vain and foolish, did not hesitate to select 
his rooms in the house of a Lutheran, because it 
was situate in an agreeable quarter of the city ; 
and Stanislaus's wise and religious remonstrance 
on the bad example thereby given, was lost on 
him, so that he ^as constrained to obey. Paul, 
who loved the world and its fashionable follies, 
now delivered himself wholly to their pursuit, 
being no longer under any restraint. It is true 
he had Bilinski still as guardian, but unfortu- 
nately, the tutor was equally fond of pleasure as 
the pupil, and found his account in allowing 
him to indulge his inclinations. Poor Stanislaus 
could not witness this disorder without extreme 
pain. He did all he could to reclaim his brother, 



176 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



but seeing that instead of gaining Paul he only 
irritated him, he resolved, though obliged to live 
in the same house, to have no more commerce 
with him than necessity and civility required. 

The piety of Stanislaus was too much opposed 
to Paul's manner of living, not to become annoy- 
ing to him by the remorse it occasioned. He no 
longer regarded him but as a troublesome censurer, 
for his pious exercises and deportment were a 
secret condemnation of his libertinism, and so en- 
raged did he become, that he heaped on the young 
saint all sorts of outrages and affronts, in which 
Bilinski seconded him. Seeing that their efforts 
were unavailing to diminish the fervour and fidelity 
of Stanislaus, he beat him so cruelly and so often 
with a stick during two years, as brought the poor 
child to the gates of death. He recovered, and 
his renunciation of the world to embrace the order 
of the Jesuits, was followed by the conversion of 
Paul. _ 

Having made a spiritual retreat, he came forth 
with every demonstration of being quite changed, 
but it was not lasting. Some years after the 
death of Stanislaus, and when his reputation for 
sanctity began to spread, it was that Paul, touch-, 
ed by divine grace, and affected by the recollec- 
tion of his brother's example, gave himself in 
earnest to God. Destined by divine Providence 
to arrive at great perfection, there was always 
found some invincible obstacle to his establish- 
ment in the world; but from the moment of his 
entire conversion, he renounced all ideas of mar- 
riage, not wishing to divide a heart which belong- 
ed to God alone. 

He chose to live in solitude, which occasioned 
him many reproaches and railleries from his 
friends. " What sort of devotion is it," said they, 



CATHOLIC BIO GRAPH i". 



177 



"to renounce every sort of office in the state, and 
thereby sacrifice your own interests, and those of 
others?" This reasoning recalled to his mind the 
arguments he had formerly employed with his 
brother, and he joyfully made use of the answers 
that holy child then made him, telling his friends, 
with great mildness, he was sorry they had formed 
on him designs contrary to those of God, that it 
was impossible for him to yield conscientiously to 
their solicitations, that he cared very little about 
conserving his name on earth, provided it were 
written in heaven ; and, in fine, that he desired 
no other glory to the house and family of Kotska, 
than that of imitating his brother Stanislaus. 

In this manner Paul justified his conduct to 
those to whom he owed that condescension; as for 
what the world said of him, he minded it very 
little. It said he was not sincere, and that he 
would soon grow weary of his new manner of 
living; but grace acted on his heart so effectually, 
that its predictions were totally falsified. 

Recollecting that in persecuting his brother 
Stanislaus, (to whose prayers we may ascribe his 
conversion,) he had imitated St. Paul, who perse- 
cuted the church of Christ, he conceived an holy 
hatred against himself, and an insatiable desire 
of sufferings. He often, to humble himself, related 
the cruel treatment he had heaped on him, and 
the patience with which he had borne it ; every 
day he spent a considerable time in prayer before 
the picture of the Saints, shedding torrents of 
tears, and inflicting on himself great macerations. 
A young gentleman once secretly witnessed this 
mark of Paul's repentance, in the following manner. 

Having gone to pay a visit of civility to a noble- 
man of the house of Lusea, and believing himself 
quite alone in his chamber at night after the 
12 



178 



CATHOLIC biography; 



family had retired to rest, Paul remained in prayer 
for hours, and afterwards gave himself a severe 
discipline, while he exclaimed from time to time, 
66 0 my holy brother, pray for me, a poor sinner, 
and pardon me all I have made you suffer ?" 
Then he retired to rest, without perceiving that 
in a little chamber contiguous, he was heard by 
a person of the family, who, not knowing him, 
thought from the extraordinary things he had 
witnessed, that their visitor had killed his brother, 
until the morning, when he was undeceived. 

It was amazing to see how long and how ear- 
nestly Paul bewailed the follies of his youth. For 
forty years, he continued tp pass his nights in the 
manner described, sleeping on the bare floor, 
although he was now grown very infirm, and his 
body extenuated by fasting. 

He usually resided at Prasniz, and he there 
founded an hospital, near to which he lodged, that 
he might serve the poor with his own hands. To 
their relief he devoted his whole fortune; his house 
was the refuge of travellers and poor pilgrims ; 
he joyfully received them, washed their feet, 
waited on them at table, and at their departure, 
gave them an alms sufficient to enable them to 
pursue their journey. 

He spent a long time each day in holy prayer, 
and recited the divine office continually. He rose 
at two o'clock in the morning, and after saying 
Matins, spent the rest of the night in profound 
meditation: he tasted the sweetest delights in 
this holy exercise; the mysteries of the Passion of 
Jesus Christ were his favourite subject. He 
every day heard several masses, and when travel- 
ling, he not only alighted at all the churches he 
met, but even at the different pious monuments, 
(in which the highways of catholic countries 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



179 



abound,) lie caused his carriage to stop, while he 
made his prayer prostrate on the ground. This 
attitude was usual with him at prayer. 

He was now near sixty years old, and wishing 
to make his sacrifice complete, he formed the 
design of becoming a Jesuit. The Provincial of 
Poland, to whom he addressed himself, opposed 
his wishes, saying, he was now too old, and his 
health broken by austerities. 1 Paul then wrote 
to the General of the order, who willingly offered 
to receive him, both in consideration of his brother 
Stanislaus, who was just then beatified, and of 
his own virtue : thinking that a saint, however 
infirm, is never useless«in a community, since he 
can at least pray and suffer. 

Our holy penitent lost no time in availing him- 
self of the General's permission, and regulated so 
his affairs, that on entering the noviceship he 
would have nothing to do but to labour with new 
ardour for his perfection. But God accepted the 
good will for the deed; for having gone to Petri- 
covie, to regulate something concerning his chari- 
table foundations, he was taken ill and died there, 
leaving the people almost totally convinced of his 
sanctity. This idea was confirmed by a miracu- 
lous light, which environed his remains the night 
preceding his funeral. O happy penance ! may 
we say, which merited and obtained for Paul such 
and so great a reward, even God himself I 



181 



CYPRIAN MOREL ; 

OR, THE YJRTUOUS MERCHANT. 

Translated from the French of Abbe Carron. 



Cyprian Morel had the happiness to be born 
of upright and religious parents ; two holy priests, 
his relations, charged themselves with his educa- 
tion, and to them he owed the sentiments of piety 
which he afterwards displayed, and never depar- 
ted from. As his property was small, he em- 
ployed himself in traffic less with a view to acquire 
a fortune, than an honourable competency. The 
new merchant, in pouring out his soul before God, 
and soliciting the light of the Holy Ghost, at the 
commencement of his undertaking, thus spoke 
within himself : "I am a follower of Christ, and 
hence I cannot be ignorant that I should, before 
all, seek to lay up for myself a treasure in hea- 
ven. I have sufficient reason to think that my 
God calls me to this state, (otherwise I should not 
embrace it ;) but my understanding being so limi- 
ted, I cannot, without imprudence, multiply my 
engagements without new graces ; my profession 
demands care and attention ; but I must associate 
to them a care of my salvation. My first obliga- 
tion is to serve God ; my second to fulfil for His 
sake the duties of my profession. If I serve not 
God, I lose all, since I lose my soul, to save which 
life has been given me, and the wealth I gain in 
trade is but a figure of the celestial riches for 
which I should incessantly sigh. Shall I not act 
as a fool, if I ever suffer these sentiments to be 
effaced?" 

These reflections of Cyprian were not superfi- 



182 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



cial ; they, on the contrary, became the seed of 
that christian life which merited for him eternal 
beatitude. 

The young trader was not 1 long without disco- 
vering that the two greatest dangers of his pro- 
fession were avidity Jfor gain, and such anxiety 
about business, as would efface from his mind and 
heart the remembrance of God and eternity. Ho 
neglected nothing to preserve himself from the 
perils which were going to surround him. Mo- 
derate in his desires, his personal interest was 
sacrificed as soon as it was found at variance with 
the law of God. He was inviolably attached to 
the rules of probity; candid, upright, honest, to 
such a degree, that the child could deal as safely 
with him as the man experienced in trade. The 
reputation he gained by this line of conduct 
attracted him universal confidence ; those who 
once dealt with him were sure to purchase from 
him again, so that he soon became very extensive 
in business. He was by no means elated with his 
prosperity, he never forgot his former state of 
niedio(5rity, and often said that it was evident his 
prosperity was rather the gift of God than the 
fruit of his labours and experience : " Look at so 
many other merchants," he would say, 44 who, 
with more experience, more talent, more wealth 
than I, have failed in trade ; to God then I owe 
my success, and therefore I only consider in my 
goods, the account I must one day give before God 
of their administration." 

Our pious merchant never used indirect ways 
to attract customers, and in the entertainments 
which he gave them according to the laws of 
civility, he was careful never to depart from the 
rules of temperance, or the precepts of fasting 
and abstinence. His spirit of equity appeared no 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 183 

less eyidentlj towards his domestics, and the 
artisans whom he employed for his trade. He 
never delayed the payment of their hire or wages, 
nor required them to labour above their strength, 
nor to work on holidays or feasts, though he were 
to risk by it a considerable sum. 

Cyprian was ever cautious to preserve the repu- 
tation of persons in his trade ; if their failings or 
misfortunes were spoken of, he tried to excuse the 
former, and to attribute the latter to some other 
cause than their negligence. He never envied 
their good fortune, and always tried to live on 
amiable terms with them, so that the trite phrase, 
" Two of a trade never agree," could not be ap- 
plied to him. He had a great horror of extortion 
and monopoly, and in dealing with stewards and 
superintendants, was most careful that the inter- 
ests of their masters should not suffer — in fine, he 
was so delicate on the score of honesty, that he 
regarded as a great loss the least gain which had 
been acquired by illegitimate means. 

But there was a second danger to be avoided, viz. 
forgetfulness of God, and indifference for the means 
of salvation, which generally distinguishes the man 
of business. To guard against it, Cyprian, already 
penetrated with the maxim, " What does it avail 
a person to gain the whole world if he lose his 
soul," regulated by and fulfilled in a spirit of 
religion the cares of his profession : in his greatest 
embarrassments he always found time for his 
spiritual duties. No person was more assiduous 
at the public ceremonies of the church, no man 
more devout at the Holy Mass, none more atten- 
tive to the divine word, nor more anxious to re- 
ceive often the Holy Communion. He had stated 
hours each clay for attending with his family to 
spiritual lecture. Sometimes he could not spare 



184 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY*- 



for this exercise more than a few moments ; but in 
this short space he learned more than others, 
after long reading, by the attention he paid, and 
the application which he made of the subject to 
his own conduct. The New Testament and the 
Imitation of Christy together with the Christian 
Year, were his favourite works. 

To holy meditation he joined fervent vocal 
prayer, at which he generally knelt, notwithstand- 
ing his many infirmities and great age. He 
carried with him the spirit of prayer and recollec- 
tion into all places, in his walks, journeys, and 
even into his most distracting occupations. Some- 
times he contemplated the divine greatness mani- 
fested in the construction of the universe, and in 
the variety of works which adorn it. Sometimes 
the divine bounty fertilizing the earth, and pour- 
ing its copious effusions into nature's lap, struck 
him with admiration; or again he was taken with 
the wisdom of God in the vicissitudes of seasons 
and events — in short, he found God in all places, 
and in all places he loved him so ardently, that 
few approached him without perceiving its blessed 
effects. 

Cyprian regarded his prosperity as the least 
valuable of the benefits received from God ; be- 
cause he knew that nothing was truly estimable 
which was not to last for ever. " I am obliged, 0 
Lord," he used to say, with a grateful heart, "to 
thank you for the success of my affairs, which 
indeed has surpassed my expectations ; but my 
gratitude should be immense for the justice which 
has characterised them, and which I owe to your 
grace. Finish, complete your work, my good 
God, by not permitting me to employ my wealth, 
save for your glory and my sanctification ; for, 
alas ! such is the effect of riches, that if you pre- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



185 



serve us not, they become occasions of temptation 
and stimulants to sin. 

To guard against the dangers of prosperity, ho 
continued to preserve the same simplicity and 
plainness in his manner of living, the same respect 
towards his superiors, and affability towards his 
equals. His clothes were not more expensive, his 
house more richly furnished, nor his table more 
daintily provided than when he began business, 
and hence he was always enabled to assist the poor 
most liberally. He had no children; but his 
brothers and their children, besides many distant 
relations, formed a family for which he provided 
with paternal bounty. His friends, too, experi- 
enced the goodness of his heart; his sweetest 
delight was to prevent their requests, always 
painful and often humiliating to the self-love of 
him who is obliged to make them. 

He regarded as great faults some light move- 
ments of impatience occasioned by the hurry of 
business : he endeavoured to suppress them, and 
thus acquired that meekness which characterises 
the true christian. "Ah!" said he once to a 
friend who besought him to forgive some offence 
or injury on his part, "Ah! my son, it is my 
province to ask your pardon, and pray you to 
compassionate the infirmities of old age. Beg of 
the Lord to forgive my faults and pity my weak- 
nesses. " 

His purity of body and heart was so perfect, 
that he never incurred the least suspicion ; he 
seemed, like holy Job, to have made a compact 
with his eyes, so careful was he to close them 
against every thing injurious to modesty. 

To put the virtue of this good merchant to the 
test, God permitted that his long course of pros- 
perity should be interrupted by a great reverse of 



186 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



fortune. Cyprian lost a lawsuit, which involved 
the greater part of his property. He received the 
news of his defeat with perfect resignation. "My 
God," said he, prostrating himself on the earth, 
"you have only taken away your own gifts, may 
your holy name be blessed for ever." The next 
day he approached the holy table as tranquilly as 
if nothing had happened, and drew from this visit 
of his God and Saviour all the strength he needed 
for the support of this great cross. 

But the Lord did not leave long in mediocrity 
a person so disinterested and so generous. A short 
time after, he found himself possessed of a sum so 
considerable, that he was enabled to continue his 
former liberalities ; then he resigned his com- 
merce to spend the rest of his days in preparing 
to meet his Judge. 

He was not anxious, like many, to remove from 
his mind the thought of death. When great 
persons in his province died, he appeared not 
disconcerted nor alarmed. When his friends were 
summoned before God, he was afflicted, because 
he had a sensible and feeling heart ; but his 
sorrow betrayed neither attachment to life, nor 
apprehension of death. The idea of dissolution 
by dint of frequent reflection, had lost all its 
bitterness ; he was always disposed, always ready 
to die during the painful illnesses with which he 
was visited. His friends were only concerned 
about losing him ; they needed not to employ, in 
his regard, those hints which are often necessary 
with others to acquaint them of their danger, for 
ho often said to them, '* Do not let me be surpri- 
sed by death, I conjure you; that is the greatest 
piece of service you can render me." 

His ardour for the enjoyment of celestial goods, 
Ins desire to possess his God had never been 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



187 



cooled. The love of this divine Being, which 
commenced in his tender years, was never less- 
ened either by the hurry of business, the seduc- 
tion of riches, or the various accidents of life. 
The chill of old age, which cools the most lively 
passions, only served to inflame him with new 
ardours for God. It seemed that God wished to 
give in his person the example of an affluent man, 
humble, chaste, upright; a good friend, a good 
relation, a good citizen, richer in virtue than 
worldly goods. 

Having some foresight of his last hour, the good 
old man prepared his last will, and recommended 
his friends to preserve among them peace, har- 
mony, and fidelity to the Lord, and desire of 
heavenly treasures. He died at Breteuil in Nor- 
mandy, November 17, 1717, after receiving the 
last sacraments with the greatest fervour, and 
joined his virtuous consort, the imitatrix of his 
virtues and good works, in a happy eternity. 

Every state, morally speaking, has furnished 
saints for heaven, for " God wills all men to be 
saved/' and furnishes them with the means of 
sanctification. May we henceforth employ them 
well, that, like Cyprian Morel, we may appear 
with full hands before the great tribunal. Amen. 



JULIANA JOUVIN, 

A SISTER OF CHARITY. 

Translated from the French of Abbe Carron. 



Juliana Jouvin was born at Ribout, a little 
village in the diocese of Mans, 12th September, 
1677, of parents whom piety rendered truly great 
before God, while narrow circumstances made 
them contemptible in the eyes of the world. 
Deprived by death of her father while yet an 
infant, she remained under the tutelage of her 
mother, with nine brothers and sisters, all older 
than herself, until God, who seems to have formed 
on her particular designs, inspired a virtuous 
woman to provide for her education. She was 
now committed to the care of some pious ladies, 
with whom she had the happiness of knowing 
Father Joisneau, an intimate friend of the great 
St. Vincent of Paul. This worthy clergyman 
having learned by divine revelation, that Juliana 
would one day become a sister of the order of 
charity, then lately established by St. Vincent, 
earnestly applied himself to instruct her in all 
the truths of religion, and to sow in her young- 
heart the seeds of christian virtues. His cares 
were not bestowed in vain; the little creature soon 
became a model of piety, not only for her young 
companions, but even for her mistresses. One of 
these having uttered during recreation, an indis- 
creet expression, Juliana was so pained, that her 
trouble appeared on her countenance. When 
interrogated as to the cause, she said, "Ah Ma'am, 



190 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



I cannot bear to hear you speak so unbecomingly, 
God preserve me from the like." Though this was 
said in a very respectful tone, the lady felt some- 
what hurt, and complained of Juliana to F. Jois- 
neau; but the man of God so far from blaming 
her, said, "0 this child far surpasses other chil- 
dren in sagacity and innocence. You should be 
very circumspect before her, and I hope you will 
not forget it. J ' 

Juliana's progress in virtue was so rapid, that 
it was soon seen her good confessor was guided 
by the Spirit of God. She was judged fit to make 
her first communion when only eleven years old, 
and after disposing herself for this great action 
with all possible fervour, determined to consecrate 
herself to God, solely and without reserve. 

In pursuance of this resolution, she begged 
admission among the Sisters of Charity at Vilaine 
la Suee, but her youth placed an unsurmountable 
barrier to the accomplishment of her pious desires. 
However she cheerfully submitted to the delay, 
and expected in peace the moment of God. Ini- 
mical to frivolous amusements she totally avoided 
them, and in the asylum where Providence had 
placed her, endeavoured to form herself to the 
interior life, and devoted herself to the practice 
of charity, and. mortification. Her ordinary relax- 
ation, was to attend on the poor; thus she formed 
herself betimes for her future state. The most 
revolting diseases, services the most humiliating, 
cooled not the ardour of her zeal; there was no 
employment too disgusting for her charity. 

Burning with desire to consecrate herself wholly 
to God, she no sooner attained her eighteenth 
year, than she renewed her application to the 
daughters of St. Vincent, and finally succeeded in 
procuring admission among these heroines of reli 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



191 



gion, Her confessor who had never lost sight of 
her, said to the Superioress on that occasion, 
" This young girl, reverend Mother, is a gift God 
bestows on your community; she brings to you 
the precious treasure of her baptismal innocence, 
with dispositions the most favourable to its pre- 
servation/' A glorious testimony indeed, and 
which those who through life knew Juliana, con- 
firmed after her death. 

The young servant of the poor now entirely 
devoted herself to the knowledge, love, and prac- 
tice of the duties of her state. She so deeply 
imbibed the spirit of the institute, that it became 
as it were natural to her. Her tender piety which ^ 
was at the same time solid and interior, soon con- 
ciliated the love and esteem of her sister religious, 
and gained her the confidence of her superiors. 

Appointed to establish with two ancient sisters 
a house of her order at Royan, in the diocese of 
Saintes, and obliged to lodge for some time after 
arriving there in an extern house; a scene of 
combat was open to Juliana. Her personal graces, 
joined to the amiabilities of her character, occa- 
sioned her different attacks, but the grace of God 
rendered her victorious ; these contests only served 
to manifest her contempt of the world, and fidelity 
to her vocation. 

New trials awaited her; being removed to a 
house of the institute in Charente, she found 
the Superioress, though a very good woman, so 
prepossessed against her, that she had need of 
great patience to bear the treatment she received. 
She had recourse to God, and he became her 
strength and consolation, enabling her to suffer 
all with patience and humility, and in the end 
discovered her innocence and great worth. As 
modest in prosperity as she had been patient in 



192 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



adversity, the only return she made those who 
caused her such harsh treatment, was to heap 
benefits on them, and to load them with demon- 
strations of kindness. 

Scarcely had she tasted the sweets of peace, 
than she was sent to Tremblade, where for ten 
years she laboured with indefatigable zeal for the 
conversion of heretics. She was very successful, 
and produced abundant fruit among the youthful 
professors of Calvinism; but, just when preparing 
new measures for increasing the number of her 
proselytes, she received a command to repair to 
the great hospital of Rochfort, then under the 
direction of the Grey Sisters, to discharge the 
office of assistant. 

This convent, where the duties were as difficult 
as they were numerous, enclosed in its bosom 
seeds of division from the diversity of sentiment 
and inflexibility of certain characters; but Juliana 
managed all so prudently and charitably, that 
former contests were forgotten, and good order 
and tranquillity restored. Mistress of the hearts 
of her sisters in Christ, she applied herself to 
advance them more in perfection, to render them 
extremely sensible to the miseries of the poor, 
and most careful to avoid the shadow of a fault. 
The consequence was, that the Community 
although very numerous, and engaged in most 
dissipating occupations, was soon renewed in fer- 
vour and regular observance. 

Nothing escaped her vigilance, zeal, and charity. 
A true servant of the poor, she rendered them all 
the good offices their miseries required: although 
naturally delicate and subject to frequent indis- 
position, yet when the members of Christ were 
to be served, she gathered strength for that pur- 
pose, even from her weaknesses. One of her most 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



193 



anxious cares was to form the young sisters to the 
institute, to instruct them by word, to edify them 
by example. Every thing she undertook succeed- 
ed: God endowed her with great lights and 
wonderful discernment, and these she communi- 
cated to others, for the benefit of the poor. Her 
whole time was divided between prater and works 
of charity. But to become more conformable 
to the divine model of the predestined, she was 
again fastened to the cross in the same manner 
as at Royan, her external charms having attracted 
many. Even women ran to see her, and pointed 
her out to their children with admiration ; but, 
faithful to her divine spouse, she happily discover- 
ed, and wisely disconcerted, the schemes adopted 
by the arch enemy for her spiritual ruin. 

Here learn, young virgins, the means Juliana 
adopted to preserve herself, and which may be 
often necessary for you. Contempt of all that 
the world admired in her, negligence in dress, an 
holy industry to appear deformed when obliged 
to appear abroad, mortification of the senses, 
renunciation of the most innocent satisfactions, 
flight of the world, maintaining no intercourse 
with it but from necessity, no conversation except 
on edifying subjects, constant vigilance over her- 
self, to avoid within and without whatever might 
retard her progress in that great perfection to 
which she aspired; continual union with God, 
fervent prayers for the divine assistance, presented 
with the more humility as she more deeply felt 
her innate weakness and insufficiency. 

Juliana's heroic virtue could not remain long 
concealed from her superiors; the more they knew 
her, the more they loved and esteemed her. 
Since her death, a person as distinguished for 
piety as for birth, declared that she never convers- 
13 



194 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



ed with her without feeling more animated to 
serve God ; her presence alone inspired a love of 
virtue. 

Being charged with the government of the 
asylum for orphans, and appointed visitor of the 
province, her humility took the alarm. She was 
terrified at these dignities, and with a strong feel- 
ing of her incapacity for performing the duties 
annexed to them, went to consult her confessor. 
After having listened to her patiently, his only 
reply was, "Obey, my sister, it is God who speaks 
by your superiors. Business makes men, and 
then men make business." At these few words 
all her fears subsided, all her repugnance vanished, 
she instantly accepted the offices aforesaid. 

A good mother to her children in Jesus, she 
watched vigilantly over them, provided for their 
wants, studied their weaknesses, discovered to 
them their passions, taught them how to subdue 
them, and inspired them with a due esteem for 
their vocation and a love of solitude and retreat. 
She managed every thing with such prudence 
and charity, that all were satisfied. She cherish- 
ed the poor most tenderly, and even prevented their 
desires, so far did she carry her charitable cares. 
She was most exact in dispensing the alms com- 
mitted to her, and never embarrassed her con- 
science on that article ; in fine, she was so occupied 
about the poor, that she forgot her personal 
necessities. 

The care she took of the houses committed to 
her, confirmed more and more the opinion that 
had been conceived of her merit. Nothing es- 
caped her penetration ; exact visits, well-timed 
advices, vigilance in observing the wants of all, 
readiness in providing for them, zeal for the spirit 
of the institute, care of regular observance, wis- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



195 



dom in her counsels, firmness in her projects — 
behold an assemblage of qualifications which 
caused her, at the age of thirty-eight years, to be 
chosen assistant to her community. 

While in this office, it was evidently seen how 
eminently Juliana possessed the spirit of counsel, 
and the gift of discerning spirits. Her discretion 
was as admirable as her zeal was ardent in main- 
taining the interests of God. When obliged to 
reprehend, charity sweetened her expressions, she 
never gave a reprimand without first acknow- 
ledging before God that she herself was more 
deserving of reproach than those whom she had 
to correct. "Unhappy creature," said she, "I 
reprove my sisters for external faults, while I 
myself am full of*interior ones, much more dis- 
pleasing to God and offensive in his sight/' * She 
felt great satisfaction in directing the young sisters; 
she had a particular attraction for that office. 
The lessons she most strenuously inculcated were 
purity of intention and constant recollection, so 
that the functions of Martha would not hinder the 
contemplation of Mary, Her example supported 
her words. To speak of God to these youthful 
spouses of His Son, to entertain them with His 
goodness, His mercy, and the obligations of their 
state, were her sweetest occupation after that of 
holy prayer ; in which sacred duty she was so fer- 
vent, that seeing her come from it was suffi- 
cient to inspire others with a love for its exercise. 

She maintained a constant union with God 
by means of recollection and silence; even at re- 
creation she would not permit her young sisters 
to entertain themselves but with useful and edify- 
ing subjects, and this with all possible modesty, 
and in a low voice, in order to avoid dissipation, 
and to be attentive to the Holy Spirit, who inces- 



196 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



santlj watches at the door of our hearts. Re- 
member, she used to say, you must render to God 
an account of evert/ idle ivord you say; it hurts 
no one, I grant, but it is useless, and that suf- 
fices for its retrenchment. Jesus, our divine Mas- 
ter, has told us so; if it costs us now a little 
violence, we shall at death be amply indemnified. 

When the time of her superiority had expired, 
Juliana joyfully descended to the rank of a sim- 
ple religious. "None but God," said she, "knows 
what a superioress has to undergo. My little 
virtue caused me to feel it in all its bitterness. 
It is true our ecclesiastical Superiors are extreme- 
ly charitable, but happy are they who do not 
know it at stich great expense !" 

Being called to Versailles by*the pious Queen 
Mary Lecksinska, wife of Louis XV., who honour- 
ed her with her confidence, she considered her- 
self as at the termination of her exile, and under 
this impression redoubled her assiduity in the per- 
formance of her duties. The attractive she had 
always experienced for solitude, rendered this 
little suspension of active duty most pleasing and 
agreeable. "I taste more and more the sweets of 
my retreat," said she, " though I cannot enjoy it 
quite so much as I could wish, being obliged to 
hold intercourse with the patrons of my clear 
poor. How painful is not this to me, who deserve 
rather to be under the earth than on it 

Unencumbered by the heavy charges which 
had hitherto embarrassed her, Juliana applied 
more zealously than ever to the government of 
her new community at Versailles; after God, it 
held the first place in her heart. Although in 
high estimation with the Queen, as well as the 
ladies of the court, she never made her appear- 
ance there but when the necessities of the poor, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



197 



or an absolute command from her majesty obliged 
her. Even then she lost not sight of God ; at the 
sight of the splendour and magnificence of the 
court, she and her young religious adored the 
King of Heaven, who alone is essential greatness ; 
the rich apparel of the nobility inspired her with 
disgust for all things transitory, while the 
tattered rags of the poor filled her with satisfac- 
tion, being, as she would say, fitter to teach us 
what we are. In the midst of the court, then the 
most brilliant in Europe, she spoke of God with a 
noble freedom, and in a manner so moving and 
eloquent, that she inspired all with admiration. 

Instructed by the Holy Ghost, she used often 
repeat, " All passes, my God, all passes with time; 
You alone are immutable, You alone are eternal, 
Your love is the only good, whose possession is 
lasting and permanent. When, 0 Lord, shall I be- 
hold you face to face ? I die with ardour to see 
and love you without intermission." Such were 
her desires; but to conceive their vivacity we 
should be penetrated with her love and fervour. 
Let us more minutely study her conduct, it will 
show us the great veneration in which we should 
hold her. 

The strong and lively ideas which were rivetted 
in her mind of the Sovereignty of God, continu- 
ally animated her to honour Him by heroic 
practices of obedience and other virtues. " I shall 
be attentive, she would say, to all my movements, 
lest I offend that divine eye which sees all ; that 
paternal heart which loves all; that omnipotent 
arm which supports all ; in this amiable Lord, and 
in Him alone, shall I seek my wisdom, my conso- 
lation, my love, my strength, my God, my Father, 
my Spouse, my all Struck with admiration at 
her dispositions, one of her confessors said to her, 



198 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY 



4 6 Continue, my daughter, to walk under the eyes 
of God, to be all to our Lord, to live as if you and 
He were the only beings in existence, desiring to 
be forgotten by all. But though every thing 
earthly fills you with disgust, moderate your 
desire of death, support life with peace and resig- 
nation." 

Juliana had a wonderful devotion to all the 
mysteries of the Sacred Humanity of . Jesus 
Christ, and applied herself to discover in the 
different actions of his mortal life, the spirit 
which animated Him, forming thereon the plan of 
her interior conduct. " Let us imitate," said she, 
c< the profound humiliations of the Word Incarnate 
in his hidden, penitent, and laborious life: let us not 
lose one of its circumstances ; all that which has 
been written, was written for our instruction. 
She had chosen ejaculations suitable to the dif- 
ferent festivals, she taught them to her spiritual 
children, and reminded them to repeat them as 
the feasts occurred, to animate their devotion. 
With an amiable simplicity she would say, 4 6 How 
many times to-day, my daughter, have you 
thought on the mystery the Church celebrates? 
Do now say with me, Deo gratias, the Word was 
made jlesh and dwells amongst us, or, Glory be 
to God on high, and peace on earth to men of 
good will, or, Come, divine Spirit, into our hearts, 
and enkindle in our hearts the purest flames of 
Thy love." Thus, according to the feast. She was- 
very devout to the Passion and wounds of Christ. 
"Let us seek," said she, "in the adorable wounds of 
our Spouse, the remedy of our evils; let us abide 
within them, we shall there be invincible to our ; 
enemies. Let us be firmly fixed to the feet of 
our crucified Jesus, and never depart from his 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



199 



cross, one sole drop of his precious blood is suffi- 
cient to sanctify and save us. 

She was consumed with love for the adorable 
sacrament, the treasure of all pious souls, and 
found nothing so sweet and delightful as its re- 
ception in the Holy Communion. She incessantly 
sighed after this happiness, and found in no place 
such consolation as that experienced before the 
tabernacle where her beloved reposed under the 
mystic veil. There it y^as she deposited all her 
pains and inquietudes, there she sought her 
strength and consolation, and there she edified all 
by her recollection, her fervour, her ardent sighs 
and tears. 

Her lively faith penetrated her with respect 
for the temples of the living God. "Let us re- 
member," said she, " that our churches are holy 
and terrible. Since God resides within them in 
all his greatness and majesty, let us not behave 
so thoughtlessly as to give him reason to say we 
know Mm not." 

She was particularly devout to the holy angels, 
of whom, alas ! the greater number, even of pious 
persons, are almost totally unmindful. Her angel 
guardian received from her special marks of love 
and devotion. " Our God, out of his ineffable 
goodness, has given us," she would say, "a prince 
of his court to guard and defend us : let us shun 
all that might displease so holy and beneficent a 
guide, let us try to merit a continuance of his 
cares, by the imitation of his virtues, his punctu- 
ality in obeying the commands of God, his indif- 
ference for employs, his constant attention to the 
divine majesty. He cares not whether he be 
appointed to guard a prince or a peasant, a learned 
or an illiterate person, a saint or a sinner, regard- 
ing nothing but the accomplishment of the will of 



200 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



God. Let us not forget whenever we meet a 
person in the street, or elsewhere, to salute his 
angel who ever accompanies him. ,, 

But how can we describe this holy soul's devo- 
tion to th ever blessed and glorious Virgin Mary ? 
She was ingenious in devising a thousand different 
ways of testifying towards her the most tender 
love. She incessantly meditated on the virtues 
of this amiable Queen, her humility, sweetness, 
purity, love of the hidden life, and union with 
God, in order to imitate them, and she tried to 
induce others also to be devout to her 

Modesty was of all others her favourite virtue. 
"Holy modesty," said she, "belongs to all times 
and places ; it should regulate our gestures, our 
whole deportment, even the tone of our voice. 
It is a moving, though a silent sermon ; simple 
exterior modesty has operated the conversion of 
many. Let our words be modest, avoiding such as 
are vain and useless; let our eyes be under the 
government of this amiable virtue, lest they fix 
themselves on any dangerous object. If modesty 
is recommended to all Christians, with how much 
more reason to religious who are the spouses of 
the Lamb ? It is this divine spouse that inspired 
our blessed Father St. Vincent of Paul to give 
us this virtue as a veil to screen us from the 
world. Let us never lay aside this charming 
ornament, as we are made spectacles to the world, 
to angels, and to men, by the obligations of our 
institute; thus, wherever we are sent, we shall 
attain its glorious end." 

Juliana had a great devotion to her holy father, 
the illustrious St. Vincent, it gave her real plea- 
sure to speak of him. " We are the children of 
saints," said she, " let us not degenerate from our 
origin, or disgrace our high birth let us never 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



201 



forget the doctrine and example of our holy foun- 
der, thus we shall be recognized for his true 
children. 

A true daughter of the Church, she earnestly 
sought and desired to see it provided with zealous 
and indefatigable labourers, and often recom- 
mended prayers and communions to obtain from 
God ministers according to his heart. 44 These, 
said she, " would be gifts from the hands of God, 
and evident marks of his protection ; whereas bad 
priests are the greatest scourges he can send us, 
they are signs of his indignation." At the 
time of ordinations, she used to say, "Arnong the 
young levites now about to receive the holy order 
of priesthood, perhaps there are some who are 
destined one day to be our guides ; let us pray 
fervently that they may receive abundantly the 
sacerdotal spirit, and thus be enabled to lead us 
in the true paths of sanctity and perfection." 

The confidence of this virtuous soul was firm 
and unmoveable. 44 God is our Father," she would 
say, " He is more interested for us than we our- 
selves are, let us leave to Him the care of our affairs. 
If He sometimes refuses what we ask, it is to give 
us what will be more conducive to our true happi- 
ness." When the community were threatened 
with a considerable loss, "Be it so," said 
Juliana, 44 if God wills it; his goodness should 
excite our confidence, the number of the sick 
increases, our resources diminish ; but our hea- 
venly Father will provide for us. Let us think of 
Him with St. Catherine of Sienna, and He will 
think of us; let us only be occupied with promo- 
ting his honour, in serving His poor members, and 
He will take care of our wants. Besides, each day 
suffices for its own inquietudes, why then be 
troubled about the future ? If God is for us 



202 



CATHOLIC BIOGrRAPHYc 



who shall be against us ? Ah ! let us hope in 
this Lord, and we shall never be confounded." 

Accustomed from her infancy to walk under the 
eyes of God, Juliana acquired the habit of direct- 
ing to him continually her thoughts, words, and 
her every movement. If the soul be more present 
in what she loves than in where she is, it can be 
truly said that hers was more in God than in her- 
self. This divine object incessantly occupied her. 
" The recollection of the divine Majesty," she used 
to say, " should be as frequent as respiration. Let 
our conversation be in heaven, let us soar to that 
blessed abode with all the desires of our hearts, 
for there alone can we find true happiness, and 
real felicity. Creatures are poor, they are noth- 
ing of themselves, let us go to the source.' ' — 44 1 
sincerely desire to see you at my ease in our true 
country," replied she, to a person who was very 
fond of her, 44 the satisfactions of this foreign land 
are unworthy of us ; let us lament our exile, and 
prepare to depart therefrom by the gate of divine 
love, 0 may we be wholly consumed in its amia- 
ble flames !" 

A soul so inflamed with love, must naturally 
have felt great delight in conversing with her 
Beloved : indeed, nothing gave her so much 
pleasure as the contemplation of His perfections. 
From the great lights she received in this sacred 
exercise, she used to say, 4 4 There is nothing more 
perfect in the spiritual life than to do what God 
wills, than to submit to His good pleasure; we 
have only been created for this end." If she 
learned any unpleasant news, 44 Blessed be God," 
said she, 44 we should every day die to something 
if we wish to attain the pure love of God. Our 
food, in time, is to do the will of our heavenly 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



203 



Father. 0 may it be accomplished in us during 
eternity !" 

It would be offering Juliana's memory a great 
injury to suspect her of presumption; deeply pene- 
trated with a fear of the divine judgments, this 
humble soul often repeated, "Ah! when we shall 
appear at the tribunal of the Most High, there is 
no good which we would not wish to have done, no 
evil which we would not desire to have avoided: then 
the least infidelities will throw us into fear and 
consternation. Let us try to come with confi- 
dence to meet our Judge, bearing the rules and 
constitutions of our holy institute; then, if faithful, 
we shall obtain the reward of our little struggles, 
our petty violences. " 

Not satisfied with exhorting her sisters, Juliana 
embraced every opportunity of inviting others to 
virtue : thus a lady of quality much adicted to 
playing at chess, and who could not be reclaimed 
by the immense losses she sustained, nor by all 
the representations of her confessor, the celebra- 
ted Father Gourdan, was converted by the prayers 
and exhortations of our servant of God ; she could 
not hold out against the sweetness, prudence, and 
simplicity of Juliana's reasoning. These little 
missions afforded her great delight, "It is a great 
comfort," she would say, "to be obliged to teach 
others to love God. Let us give and it shall be 
given to us; let us reckon ourselves highly honoured 
in being made instruments in the hands of God 
for the salvation of souls redeemed by his precious 
blood," A person cannot truly love God without 
loving his neighbour; hence the charity of Juliana 
was exceeding great ; she excused and made 
allowances for every defect. "Let us not despise 
our brethren because of their weaknesses," said 
she; "let us consider their foibles as a little dust 



204 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



which, scattered over glittering gems, would only 
obscure their lustre. God is not displeased with our 
neighbour for his involuntary faults ; this good 
Father knows our frame, he remembers we are 
dust; let us have the same merciful sentiments 
one towards another, ever remembering that in 
the weakness of man the power of God is made 
manifest." 

Suspected of partiality for some of her sisters, 
she said, "You will one day see what it cost me 
to testify my love for that person. You will know 
before God, that those I am most inclined to love, 
are precisely the persons to whom I give fewer marks 
of affection ; I have for all the sentiments which 
I owe them." She often said to herself, as we see 
in her resolutions, " I stand in need of an abundant 
charity, a sincere cordiality, and an unalterable 
sweetness every day of my life. First, then, I 
shall esteem my sisters, considering them, with the 
eye of faith, as daughters of the eternal Father, 
spouses of His divine Son, and sanctuaries of the 
Holy Ghost. Secondly, I shall love them ardently, 
as being so closely allied to our Lord. Thirdly, 
I shall honour them as queens, since they are the 
spouses of the King of kings. Fourthly, I shall 
never speak to them passionately, nor with the 
impetuosity of a blind, misguided zeal, and be 
careful to avoid every offensive and unkind expres- 
sion; our Lord considers as said or done to himself, 
that which I say or do to my sisters." 

Juliana had of herself the most contemptible 
opinion, she considered herself the vilest creature 
on earth ; her extreme regret for the least faults 
was expressed in the most humiliating form. 
Her confessors often obliged her to make use 
of terms less strong in accusing herself, lest she 
might make herself appear more culpable than 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



205 



she really was. If the Queen gave her tokens of es- 
teem and confidence, she said with holy simplicity, 
"Madame, I am very unworthy of your Majesty's 
notice, being only a poor little villager, but what 
heightens my indignity, is the number of my sins 
and infidelities." Like her blessed father Vincent, 
who delighted in publishing the meanness of his 
origin, Juliana declared her low extraction to all 
who testified towards her the least esteem. Her 
most earnest desire was to be despised and con- 
temned: "Forgotten by all," she said, "a person is 
sheltered from the arrows of vanity." She con- 
cealed her good works so cautiously, that God 
alone knows their number, and was most anxious 
not to lose any opportunity of participating in the 
humiliations of Jesus Christ. 

Crosses and afllictions she considered great 
favours, and never did she cease testifying to God 
her lively gratitude for the portion he sent her of 
them. "The cross," said she to her sisters, "is the 
wood which nourishes the flame of divine love. 
Yes, the cross should be our portion and inheri- 
tance, and Jesus crucified our strengtli and con- 
solation." 

In the midst of the community she apportioned 
herself the basest and most humiliating occupa- 
tions, and she used as much as possible to anticipate 
the time of performing them, lest any other might 
deprive her of the merit. If through inadver- 
tence she gave any sister an occasion of displea- 
sure, she threw herself at her feet, and said with 
the greatest humility, " See what I am capable of ; 
do now, dear sister, forget the uneasiness I have 
caused you." 

Every one admired her patience and resigna- 
tion in the different infirmities wherewith she was 
tried, but ever profoundly humble, she discovered 



206 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



imperfections in her best works. " I suffer much, 5 ' 
she would say, "this distemper does not let me rest 
a moment; 1 bear it very badly, I confess, for 
when it is very violent, I beg to be delivered, from 
it, or at least that it may be alleviated, in order 
that I may be able still to serve the poor. This, 
however, is done with some apprehension, know- 
ing the many sins I have to expiate. Corrupted 
by self : love, I am tempted to indulge humour 
when I suffer more than ordinary; you see now 
how little of solid virtue I possess, this should 
move you to pray for me !" 

Towards the end of her life, being obliged to 
adopt certain mitigations, and to treat herself less 
rigorously, she said, How painful to be obliged to 
treat so delicately a body of sin, how humiliating 
to an abject creature who has been offending God 
more than sixty years, to be compelled to use 
such comforts and refreshments. 

Continually occupied in mortifying her body, in 
watching over the thoughts of her mind and the 
affections of her heart, that all might be regulated 
by the views of faith and the principles of an un- 
mixed charity, Juliana habitually refused herself, 
(and it seemed not to cost her a struggle,) all that 
could recreate her sight and satisfy her taste, and 
used to renounce interiorly the involuntary satis- 
faction, found by the senses in things necessary 
for the sustenance of life. As she became by this 
custom quite indifferent to, and forgetful of her 
wants, it was necessary for others to be mindful of 
them, for fear of bad consequences. She suffered 
without mitigation the inclemency of the seasons; 
it is supposed that the severe winter of 1743, 
during which she never approached the fire, 
occasioned the illness of which she died. God no 
doubt overlooked this excessive harshness towards 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



207 



herself, because of the purity of her motives. 
She thus expressed herself to a friend on that 
occasion, " How painful has this winter been to me, 
but I suffer more now that Lent approaches, they 
will not allow me to fast, and I ought to spend the 
whole time on bread and water." 

To finish Juliana's portrait, we shall give the 
regulations she prescribed herself, and which she 
observed with as much fervour as fidelity. Her 
devotion inspired her with the plan, but she did 
not begin to observe it until approved by her 
confessors, who judged it very conformable to her 
interior dispositions. It is herself who speaks. 

1. 44 In the morning when I awake, I shall make 
an act of divine love, saying, 0 my God! I love 
you with all my heart; may I love you more and 
more, 0 Lord, who art the soul of my soul — what 
have I in heaven or on earth beside Thee ? Thou 
art the God of my heart and my portion for ever. 
I shall vary these acts, I shall produce them 
without speaking by a sigh or an elevation of 
heart to God." 

2. f< At meditation, after the ordinary affections, 
I shall dwell very long on acts of love ; I shall say 
with St. Augustine, Pierce my heart, 0 Lord, with 
the inflamed arrows of Thy charity. Thou hast 
made us, 0 Lord, for Thyself, and our hearts can- 
not rest till they repose in Thee. 0 beauty, ever 
ancient and always new! too late have I known 
Thee, happy am I, if even now I love thee. I 
shall entertain myself with these pious sentiments 
whole hours together, in order to maintain the 
spirit of prayer." 

3. "At holy Mass, I shall say with St. Catherine 
of Sienna, 6 0 Love ! you are not known; 0 Love! 
you are not loved. Divine fire which from all 
eternity consumed this Lamb without spot, the 



208 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



divine Spouse of my heart and my soul, you are 
now about to immolate Him mystically on this 
altar, to fortify me in the life of grace, to inflame 
me with your pure flames, 0 divine fire! ever 
burning and never consumed, inflame my heart, 
purify my soul, destroy within me all that is not 
perfectly subject to Thy laws." 

4. "At work I shall elevate my heart to God in 
these, or similar terms. The Lord has lighted up 
in my heart the flames of His love, He Himself has 
become my instructor. Divine Spouse of my 
soul ! may your love inflame all hearts, may it 
totally consume mine, and penetrate even to the 
marrow of my bones ! It is for you I am going to 
perform this action, to make this correction, to 
pay this visit. Inebriated with the love of my 
God, I wish only Him, I seek only Him : He alone, 
holds to me the place of all things, I have nothing 
more at heart than to establish his reign in the souls 
confided to me. Draw me to yourself, 0 Lord." 

5. "At meals, I shall penetrate myself with 
these sentiments. Bread of angels, celestial food, 
true nourishment of my soul, how long shall I be 
obliged to use these contemptible meats to sup- 
port this wretched life ? When, 0 Lord, shall it 
be, that separated from this body I shall feed with 
the blessed on thy increated vision? I eat, 0 Lord, 
because you will it; I drink to enable me to labour 
for you; I unite this repast with those which my 
Saviour took on earth; it is for your glory and in 
your grace and love I wish to take it.*' 

6. "At recreation, while conversing with my 
sisters, I shall raise my heart and mind to the 
Incarnate Word, and say to him, 0 Word ! wis- 
dom of the Father! enlighten my mind, influence 
my heart, direct my tongue, that I may say 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY* 



209 



nothing but what is holy, prudent, and edifying. 
You alone, 0 Lord, have the tcords of eternal life." 

7. "In sleep even, I shall nourish the fire of 
Divine love, saying with the Spouse, / sleep, but 
my heart ivatches. In this manner I shall try to 
sanctify my life by the exercise of divine love, 
loving my God with all my heart, and soul, and 
mind, and strength, as a child loves her parent, 
and a spouse her bridegroom, May I love you 
thus, 0 Lord." 

One might imagine thatalifeso united with God, 
would flow on in profound peace; but the purest 
souls have their inquietudes, they are often en- 
gendered in their love itself, and their fears of 
not loving; behold the rules which Juliana pre- 
scribed herself to preserve the peace of her soul. 
" For the past, I shall entertain sentiments of a 
sincere, mild, and peaceful compunction ; for the 
present, sentiments of a tender charity and true 
cordiality for my sisters and the poor members of 
Jesus Christ. My first, my continual occupation, 
will be the holy presence of God, union with 
Christ our Lord, the interior life of grace and 
faith, that all my actions may be worthy of God 
and his eternal recompenses. For the future, I 
shall entertain a firm confidence in the eternal 
Father and his Son Jesus Christ: considering my- 
self as already saved by hope, I shall perform all 
my actions in that holy confidence which does not 
exclude filial fear. Fidelity to these resolutions 
would sanctify any life, however long I shall try 
to be faithful to them in life and death." 

Juliana had long, sighed for the moment which 
would indissolubly unite her to her spouse; from 
afar she saluted the promised land, and counted 
the moments of her exile. <? I am tired of the 
world," wrote she to one of her sisters, "I long, 
14 



210 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



earnestly long to enter on the inheritance of my 
heavenly Father; I have heard our dear sister 

N knocks at the door, may I enter with her, 

or at least follow her soon. I much envy her lot : 
only think, that for a moment of pain, sweetened 
by a thousand consolations, we shall receive an 
eternity of joys, what can we more ardently 
desire than the completion of our banishment. 
But let us be consoled, we have not a hundred 
years to spend on earth after our friends, and they 
do not forget us before God, charity forbids it." 

With the same spirit of disengagement she re- 
turned the compliments made her on recovering 
from one of her illnesses. I received with grati- 
tude the testimonies of your kindness and affec- 
tion, my malady greatly consoled me, because it 
reminded me that this house of clay encloses 
within it the principle of its destruction. These 
little illnesses are faint essays of that final one 
which I think would be already sent if I were a 
good religious; God be praised, who still gives me 
time to become so." 

But if she loved the thoughts of dissolution, she 
was not without apprehensions of the judgement 
which was to follow. Her fear thereof caused 
her to say to a friend, "Beg of God, I beseech you, 
to grant me the grace to die well ; the hour comes 
and I tremble because of the divine judgments, 
for I have greatly abused the grace of God." 

The remembrance of the divine mercies soon 
dissipated her terrors. "Q, she would say, what 
vast resources are contained in the mercies of 
my amiable Saviour ! may we sing them eter- 
nally." 

An illness of seventeen days so weakened her 
constitution, that the rest of her life was but a 
species of langour ; let us again hear her speak 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



211 



of her state, her sentiments are truly edifying. 
The divine goodness draws from its treasures 
a few slight, and sometimes violent attacks 
of illness, and presents them to me; one shall 
come at last that will complete the work. My 
God does not forget me, he every day makes me 
a present of some new pain, light indeed, when 
compared with my sins. Ask for me such a 
great share of divine love as may totally destroy 
all inordinate love of self. My strength fails, this 
poor body decays, help me to thank God. I hope 
he will continue to purify me by infirmity; they 
compliment me on my good complexion, but I feel 
I shall soon be the colour of clay; 0 may it be 
when it shall please our good Master. Beg of 
Him, that by the good use of the present time, 
I may repair the past." 

In the month of February 1744, being attacked 
with a violent pain in the side, she was obliged to 
lie down ; her disease soon appeared mortal, so 
that she judged there was no time to be lost, and 
at once disposed herself for the last sacraments. 
She received them with the greatest piety and 
devotion, and thenceforward abandoned herself to 
the Divine pleasure, content to live or die. In 
the most violent agonies not a murmur escaped 
her, she continued to immolate herself on the 
altar of the Divine Will, her only desire being 
to see His blessed will perfectly accomplished. 
Neither the kindness of the Queen towards her, 
nor the attention of the ladies of the court, 
diminished the humility of the pious invalid. " Do 
you observe," said an important person who hap- 
pened to be near her when these ladies visited 
her, "the kindness these great people manifest 
towards you?" "Yes," replied she, "and I value 
it much, but I feel how little I merit it ; I confess 



212 



CATHOLIC BJOGBAPHY. 



that one motive for desiring death, is the esteem 
people testify for me — God grant it be not a 
chastisement — such is the light in which I am 
inclined to view it." 

As her end approached, the serenity of her 
countenance indicated the peace of her soul. 
Having the use of all her faculties to the last 
moment, she availed herself of it to multiply her 
acts of conformity to the will of God. When she 
lost the power of utterance, she by signs begged 
a general absolution ; though dying, she made 
an effort to dispose herself for it, and when the 
priest pronounced the last words, she joined her 
hands and peaceably slept in the Lord, February 
13th, 1744, in the 67th year of her age, and the 
49th since her entrance into religion. Rev. F. 
Conty, then Superior General of the Order, said 
in the first transports of grief for her death, (and 
he knew her better than many,) "What a pure and 
innocent soul was not Juliana! Ah, how I would 
wish to be like her!" 

Her funeral obsequies were simple, but honour- 
ed by an immense concourse of poor. The Queen 
was greatly affected when she learned Juliana 
was no more; she caused her portrait to be drawn, 
and distributed immense alms to procure the 
speedy repose of her soul. 

0 happy Juliana ! prudent Virgin, may we like 
yon prepare to meet the Spouse with the oil of 
charity and the lamp of good works. 



213 



JOSEPH AEOT, 

OR, THE VIRTUOUS LAWYER. 

Translated from the French of Abbe Carron. 



Joseph Arot, son of John Arot and Anne 
Charon, was born 24th of March, 1680, and bap^ 
tized the 26th, in the church of St. Lawrence at 
Nantes. The interval between his birth and his 
baptism, caused this child of benediction to say 
in after life, that he had lived two days under the 
care of the Mother of God, the 25th of March 
being the glorious feast of the Annunciation. He 
was very devout to St. Joseph, whose name he 
bore, as also to St. Anne, the parent of his virgi- 
nal protectress. 

Joseph was placed, in proper time, under the 
care of a near relative distinguished for her piety, 
who directed towards God the first movements of 
his infant heart ; when death deprived him of her 
guardianship, God supplied it in the person of 
a holy priest; under his directions, and by his 
example, he made a rapid progress in the ways 
of God, and it was his greatest delight to per- 
form pious exercises, relieve the poor, &c. He 
applied to study with great success, and his 
course of philosophy being terminated, he applied 
himself to the study of the law, and even ac- 
quired some knowledge of medicine. Although 
Joseph occupied himself with solid objects he did 
not neglect the agreeable arts, and at an age 



214 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



when others waste their precious time in trifles 
and frivolities, he was most careful not to mis- 
spend a moment. The choice of a state of life 
now engrossed his ideas ; he had for a long time 
been disposed, as all virtuous young persons 
should be, to embrace that profession to which it 
would please God to call him. Having made a 
spiritual retreat with great edification, and renew- 
ed this exercise the following year, he felt a 
strong inclination to become a Carthusian monk, 
but his confessor not judging him called to that 
>state, he took his degrees in the University, came 
to Rennes, and appeared at the bar in 1703. 

Although born with more talent than taste for 
his profession, he acquired a brilliant reputation 
therein, and affairs the most important were con- 
fided to him. He soon became a celebrated 
lawyer, but instead of being vainly elated with 
his success, he attributed all to God, and every 
day felt new gratitude towards his Divine Bene- 
factor. 

With the approbation of his friends, he espoused 
Miss Lipeure 25th June 1707 ; the divine Spirit 
no doubt directed the choice of this excellent 
young man, for this lady possessed every good 
quality, and the connection became for both 
families a source of benedictions. 

The virtuous counsellor received from the pub- 
lic every day, new testimonies of esteem and con- 
fidence ; they respected his virtues, they admired 
his talents ; he was consulted from all quarters, 
and all his advices were stamped with the seal of 
true wisdom and a knowledge of his profession. 
Men holding the first offices in the state, delight- 
ed in conferring with Joseph, in asking his 
opinion, and in strictly adhering to his advice. 
His imagination never seconded him more effica- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



215 



ciously, than when he advocated a cause involving 
the glory of God, or the miseries of his neighbour; 
indeed, this was the term of all his efforts and 
desires. 

The charity of this good man was always 
increasing; no enterprise favourable to religion, or 
useful to humanity, was strange to him. After 
the alarming conflagration, which in 1720 deso- 
lated Rennes, when he saw his own houses con- 
sumed, without a murmur he employed all the 
money he could spare in rebuilding the church of 
St. Saviour, which had been the prey of the 
devouring element. Deeply affected at the mise- 
ries of his fellow-citizens whose houses had been 
destroyed, he caused temporary lodgings to be 
erected for them, which in their necessitous state 
were regarded as most commodious: he visited 
the hospitals, regulated their administration, and 
served the sick whom they lodged; it would be 
impossible to describe the fatigues and labours he 
underwent in the service of the poor of Jesus 
Christ. 

But if the corporal necessities of his brethren 
excited his sympathy, he was still more deeply 
affected at the miseries of the soul ; hence, he 
visited the prisons, procured for its wretched 
inmates the establishment of a new chapel, and 
all the consolations and helps religion affords. 

In the year 1724, Joseph retired from the bar 
to occupy himself in the labour of the cabinet, 
both in order to have more leisure for good works, 
and to interdict his self-love the praises which his 
eloquence obtained for him. But no employment 
diminished his ardour in labouring for that sub- 
lime perfection to which he had been called as a 
follower of Christ, He continued to make his 
retreats annually; then alone with God, he 



216 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



deplored his lightest failings with sincere sorrow, 
and drew up in writing a plan for his future con- 
duct, which we could not read without envying 
the heart that formed it. So faithful a corres- 
pondence with grace merited for him most inti- 
mate communications with his divine Master ; he 
tasted in his service inexpressible delights, such 
as those alone experience who give themselves 
unreservedly to God. Our virtuous Joseph was 
no less admirable for his charity and beneficence, 
than for his probity and disinterestedness. After 
some considerable losses, one of his brothers died, 
leaving his estates so encumbered, that the next 
inheritors resigned their right to possession, as it 
would entail on them an obligation to satisfy the 
creditors. By this act the latter were in danger 
of losing all, but Joseph took the property in 
hand, and after a considerable personal sacrifice, 
payed them even the last farthing. 

He had three sons and two daughters. Two of 
the former devoted themselves to the Church, the 
third embraced his fathers profession ; his eldest 
daughter he honourably married, the second devo- 
ted herself in holy celibacy to the practice of good 
works, not having sufficient health for the reli- 
gious state. For a long time the virtuous coun- 
sellor wished to withdraw from public life, to occu- 
py himself in preparing for his end, which, accord- 
ing to the course of nature must soon approach : 
this he effected as soon as his son was able to 
fill his post and labour for the welfare of his 
country. 

To say a word of the virtues of this good man, 
to the perfection of which he now wholly devoted 
himself; divested of every terrestrial affection, God 
alone was his treasure, salvation his grand affair; 
his faith animated all he did and said. God is 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



217 



not known by the worldling, lie used often to re- 
peat, How blind men are • let us pray and sigh, for 
charity waxes cold, and true faith is rare on earth. 
He was seldom observed to sit in the church ; he 
remained standing during the sermon, and knelt 
the rest of the time. He used to spend three 
hours in the morning before the altar after com- 
munion, which he every day received, had a great 
devotion to the Blessed Virgin, whom he styled 
his good Mother, to St. Joseph and the angels. 
It amazed him to see how little devotion persons 
had to the saints whose names they recjeived in 
baptism, as also the foolish folly or vanity of 
parents in giving their children great family 
names instead of those of saints; he had great 
veneration for, and confidence in, the patrons of 
the parishes and dioceses also, and said they ought 
to be invoked in all public, and private, and local 
calamities. 

Occupied night and day in the work of God, he 
was not disheartened by difficulties ; on the con- 
trary, they only served to rouse him to more 
vigorous exertions. How many abuses has he 
not thus corrected! how many useful practices has 
he not introduced! He communicated to persons 
in remote provinces his lights for their improve- 
ment, and received theirs; the great reputation 
he had so justly acquired, gave such weight to his 
words, that his opinion decided affairs the most 
important. The sinner was subjugated by his 
eloquence, and gained over by his zeal ; he often 
effected the conversion of unfortunate females by 
the ascendant which divine grace assuredly gave 
him over others. 

Though he omitted no occasion of doing good* 
he never cast a jealous eye on that which others 



218 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



effected. What does it matter, he used to say, 
who does the good work, provided it be done ? 

His sweetness and patience were admirable. 
Whatever subject of displeasure he received, he 
never complained of any person ; he received the 
most uncivil treatment and offensive language 
with as much satisfaction as worldlings receive 
testimonies of esteem. When a person was irri- 
tated against him, he mildly said with his eyes 
cast down, " Why are you vexed? I only desire to 
see you happy, and my language proceeds from 
my friendship for you ; but permit me to say, bad 
temper hurts our sanctification greatly, and we 
are still like invalids who are unwilling that 
proper means be adopted for their cure." He 
patiently bore with those whose manners and 
dispositions differed from his ; he treated sinners 
with great mildness and amiability; there was no 
bitterness in his zeal, because it was according to 
God. "Let us pray for them," he used to say, 
"they may yet become great saints.' ' He receiv- 
ed all most obligingly, whether they came for 
advice or pecuniary aid ; he was always ready to 
minister to their wants, that it would seem they 
rendered him a service in applying for his assis- 
tance. He heard and replied to all with great 
condescension. Was it an unsuccessful person, 
he exhorted him to sanctify his afflictions, and to 
confide in Him who only seeks in all the sanctifi- 
cation of his elect. 

His meekness never degenerated into weakness. 
He knew how to adopt vigorous measures when 
necessary; no one could be a greater enemy of 
that passiveness which often, under pretence 
of preserving peace, allows the continuance of 
abuses. 

He always proposed his advice with perfect 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



219 



moderation and great condescension for those who 
spoke before him ; he was never moved when con- 
tradicted, and sacrificed his opinion without pain 
when a prospect of greater good presented itself. 
To reproach him for some defect, was to entitle 
one's self to his gratitude. " We are not full of 
imperfections," he would saj, "but because we 
have no person to reproach us with them." 

As he saw God in all, the commonest objects 
became to him a subject of meditation. If he 
listened to politics, he took occasion to admire 
the wisdom and providence of God in the conduct 
of events, and in the chain of second causes. 
Recollected in all places, all his moments were 
full. If obliged to wait for a person, he read 
some pages in the New Testament, or Imitation 
of Christ, which he always carried about him, 
Indifferent to all unconnected with eternity, he 
received every thing painful or otherwise, with 
that calm which is the fruit of a mortified life. 
Prayer was his element, and without being bound 
by the vow of poverty, he participated in the 
merits attached to it ; for he left the disposal of 
his revenues to his virtuous spouse, only reserving 
for himself a little money, which he distributed 
to the poor. He was known throughout the 
province by the name of Advocate of the poor ; he 
at all times pleaded the cause of the widow and 
the orphan, with as much zeal as talent ; and his 
ordinary visits were to the prisons or the cottages 
of the poor. He was greatly pained to see per- 
sons unquiet about the success of some affair. 
" The God of the christians," he used to say, 
" abides not in trouble, he is a God of peace; why 
are you disquieted ? nothing happens but by his 
permission. Your agitation after all cannot 
remedy matters; on the contrary, it deprives 



220 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



you of that calm, necessary to take a judicious 
part." 

His dearest occupation was to stifle dissensions 
and make up differences. " Commence," said 
he, to a person who complained of another, "com- 
mence to love this enemy, and your trouble will 
be lessened. From whence arise our troubles ? 
often from our prejudices, and want of charity. 
Let us love each other, and all will go on well; there 
will be an end to lawsuits, murmuring and com- 
plaints, the universe will be one great city of peace." 

It was a subject of great regret to our good 
Joseph, to see persons loaded with infirmities of 
mind and body, still occupying public places; he 
often advised them to adopt his course, that of 
consecrating their last years to prepare for death. 
He every year read over his last will, which, like 
every prudent and religious Christian, he had 
drawn up in time. In the same view he left 
Rennes, and retired to Vitre, his former residence; 
he was obliged to tear himself from the arms of 
the poor, so great was their grief to see him leave 
them. 

At Vitre he composed two little works : one to 
subvert the fatal abuses which result from the 
venality of judicial offices, and another, called the 
Charitable Arbiter, the object of which was to 
engage men of talents to conciliate opposite 
parties, and settle processes and lawsuits. He 
himself had often acted on the principles laid 
down in this work, and by means of arbitration, 
established peace in a family from whence it had 
been banished more than a century. 

For several years the pious counsellor had been 
troubled with asthma; when he suffered most from 
it, he used to say, Amplius lava me Domine, 
Wash me still more, Lord. His sight grew so bad 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



221 



in 1750, that he could no longer read or write. 
The following year he grew quite blind: his friends 
greatly alarmed, sent for the most experienced 
physicians ; but the patient besought them to let 
him finish his jubilee in peace, for, added he, "I 
have asked of God, to permit me to die at the 
end of it." This holy solemnity terminated 12th 
January, 1752. The 25th he went twice to the 
church, and remained there a long time; the 26th 
his weakness would not permit him to rise, and 
he assured them he would die on the feast of the 
Purification. Being reproached by a pious friend 
with having exhausted his strength: "Alas!" 
said he, "I have never done any thing for God, 
though I lived as long again, I should not think 
I had done enough for him." All who visited 
him went away edified at his pious exhortations, 
which seemed to acquire more strength as he 
approached nearer his term. 

The 30th January the pious old man communi- 
cated fasting; this day and the following he only 
spoke of God, and with an unction which affected 
all. The 1st February he received Extreme 
Unction at his own desire, and with the most 
lively sentiments of compunction, holding in his 
hand the crucifix which he had worn while in 
health. The priest wished to give him then the 
holy Viaticum, but Joseph besought him to reserve 
that happiness for the next day, the feast of his 
good mother, as he usually called the Blessed 
Queen of angels; however, he yielded to their 
solicitations that he would be communicated then. 
We shall not attempt to describe the fervour he 
displayed at this last reception of his God and 
Saviour; the assistants were in tears, and he 
seemed thenceforward as one of the elect. Hav- 
ing asked the clergyman to read the gospel of St. 



222 



CATHOLIC 'BIOGRAPHY. 



John, "In the beginning ivas the Word," to which 
he listened with the deepest attention. 

He solemnized the dawn of this so much desired 
feast, by a sensible increase of piety, uniting in 
spirit in all the offices of the church, and speak- 
ing admirably of the divine Infant Jesus, his bless- 
ed mother, holy Simeon, and the different things 
connected with the holy feast of the Purification. 
During the day his Confessor not finding him 
weaker, said he hoped God would prolong his life 
some time. "Wait, till to-night, dear Father," 
said Joseph, " come then, I entreat you, to make 
the recommendation of my soul. 5 ' While the bell 
announced his agony, (as is the custom in catholic 
countries,) he invited all in his chamber to kneel 
and recite with him the hymn to the B. Virgin f 
Ave Maris Stella ; Bright mother of our Maker, 
hail, &c. He answered to the prayers which were 
recited with great peace and consolation, and 
the recommendation of the soul ended, the vener- 
able man recited in an audible voice the canticle 
of Simeon, Bow, Lord, dismiss thy servant in peace, 
<fcc. The man of God remained with this terres- 
trial angel till after seven o'clock, admiring all 
he witnessed. Having again intreated him to 
read the gospel, In the beginning was the Word, 
at the words, Et Verbum caro factum est, " And 
the Word was made flesh," he uncovered his head 
with profound humility, and testified so great a 
joy, that he seemed in a sort of rapture. This 
delicious contemplation continued till he expired. 
He could no longer make long prayers, but the 
transports of his heart were indicated on his coun- 
tenance. He seemed not to be near his end, and 
yet, when the clock struck nine, he calmly said, 
An hour and a half remains to live. His confessor 
having gone to take a little rest, not supposing 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



223 



his penitent yet dying, " God will provide in his 
absence," said Joseph, "my end is near." His 
prediction was verified, at ten o'clock he peaceably 
slept in the Lord, having attained the advanced 
age of seventy-two years. 

When the news of his death was made public, 
the concourse of persons to see his remains was 
immense. The secular and regular clergy, follow- 
ed by all the citizens, formed his funeral proces- 
sion ; four ecclesiastics in minor orders carried 
his precious remains to the church of our Lady, 
in which he was interred. 

The graces conditionally solicited and obtained by 
the intercession of this admirable man, and the 
vows offered at his tomb, form his most eloquent 
epitaph. 

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. 



225 



MARY GUYARD MARTIN, 

IN RELIGION, 

SISTER MARY OF THE INCARNATION, 

Foundress and first Superioress of the 
Ursulines in Canada. 



TESTIMONY OF THE BISHOP OF QUEBEC TO THE LIFE 
THIS SERVANT OF GOD. 

" We have read with admiration the life of the 
venerable Mother Mary of the Incarnation, reli- 
gious Ursuline; we have therein found nothing 
contrary to faith or morality, on the contrary, it 
appears to us fit to excite religious to tend to the 
sanctity of their state, and all the faithful to solid 
virtue. We feel greatly indebted to God for our 
acquaintance with his servant ; having placed her 
under our pastoral conduct, we can truly say she 
was ornamented with all the virtues in a most 
eminent degree; particularly with such a gift of 
prayer, and so perfect a union with God, that 
she conserved his divine presence amidst the 
most embarrassing affairs and the different occu- 
pations to which her vocation obliged her. She 
was dead to herself ; Jesus alone lived and acted 
in her, God having chosen her to commence the 
establishment of the holy order of St. Ursula in 
Canada, endowed her in great plenitude with 
the spirit of the Institute. She was a perfect 
15 



226 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



superior, an excellent mistress of novices, capable 
of every employ in a religous community. Her 
life, common externally, but interiorly all divine, 
was a living rule for the sisters. Her zeal for 
souls, particularly for the conversion of the sava- 
ges, was so ardent and extensive, that she seemed 
to bear them all in her heart ; we doubt not that 
it was her prayers procured for this infant 
church, in great measure, the favours that have 
been conferred on it, and are persuaded that the 
perusal of this life will be productive of good, as 
was the conversation of this servant of God while 
on earth, which is all we seek. 

* FRANCIS, BISHOP. 

"Given at Quebec, \2th November, 1677." 



Mary Guyard, so celebrated in the annals of the 
church under the name of Sister Mary of the 
Incarnation, was born at Tours in France, 18th 
October, 1599. Her father, Florent Guyard, a 
silk mercer, was more distinguished by his probi- 
ty than by the goods of fortune. Her mother, 
Jane Michelet, descended from the house of 
Bourdaiziere, inherited none of the wealth of 
her respectable ancestors. The infancy of Mary 
passed without any incident worth relating. 

The first inclination she manifested, was a 
great charity and compassion for the sick and the 
poor. She delighted in being in their company, 
rendered them all the services she could, and 
would willingly have suffered in their stead. It 
pained her very much when she had not the 
means of relieving them. At the age of seven- 
teen her parents got her married; her natural 
gaiety caused them to think this state more suit- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



227 



able for her than the cloister. Her husband, Mr. 
Martin, gave her great uneasiness; he was the 
innocent source of many chagrins. But her 
pains or afflictions never caused her to neglect 
the least of her duties, her conduct on this point 
well deserves the imitation of heads of families. 
Sound reason and great prudence directed all her 
steps. She never adopted the error of those who 
substitute chimerical obligations for essential 
duties, and thereby introduce disorder into their 
families, and draw piety into disrepute. 

Mary was a real mother to the numerous work- 
men employed in her business; we cannot de- 
scribe the care she took of their health, nor her 
attention in providing for their wants. They 
deeply felt their obligations, and evinced their 
filial confidence in a tender affection for her, 
whether at the sight of what she suffered, or 
the unalterable patience with which she endured 
all. Sometimes they could not behold her with- 
out sighing, or surprise and admiration so sus- 
pended their pity, that they were almost beside 
themselves. Her husband, too, greatly esteemed 
her; the more he knew her worth, the more sorry 
he felt at rendering her unhappy. 

Neither the multitude of her cares, nor a suc- 
cession of afflictions, destroyed Mary Guyard's 
inclination for solitude. In vain would we seek a 
woman only eighteen years, engaged in extensive 
business and charged with a numerous household, 
and without any other guide in the ways of God 
than "tlie interior law of charity," says St. Augus- 
tine, such perfect exactness to our duties, great 
love of prayer and heroic patience. She used to 
say candidly that no person knew what the bounty 
of God operated in her soul; in course of time 



228 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



she expressed in these following terms, what then 
passed within her. 

" The divine majesty, not content with giving 
me a disgust for the vanity of the world, and for- 
titude to support the crosses He was pleased to 
send me, fortified my interior spirit, and in- 
fused into my soul a strong desire of receiving 
the holy Sacraments. I acquired in these foun- 
tains of grace more interior vigour, a great 
consolation, and a lively faith of the holy myste- 
ries of faith. It is true that the religious senti- 
ments in which my parents, who were very pious, 
brought me up in, laid a good foundation for 
the edifice of virtue and piety. This strong faith 
caused me to perform many good works, it crea- 
ted in me a spirit of prayer which perfected me 
in every grace — I had no inclination but for piety. 
The oftener I received the Sacraments, the more I 
desired them, because I found in them my life, 
my strength, and a strong attractive to prayer." 

Mary's assiduity in hearing the word of God, 
was a great support. She doubted not, when in 
Canada, that the Lord, irP giving her a relish for 
sermons, &c, had planted in her soul the seed of 
that zeal for the salvation of souls, which caused 
her since to undertake such great things. Thus, 
in a letter to her son, she says, "From my infancy 
God seemed to prepare me for the function I 
exercise; my mind was oftener in remote countries, 
considering the actions of those who laboured to 
extend the kingdom of God, than in the place I 
dwelt. My heart was united in an extraordinary 
manner with apostolic souls. 0 how neces- 
sary it is to profit of every attractive to good, the 
least of these graces is of great profit, and requires 
exact correspondence, though its effect were only 
transitory ; but generally, these are so many pre- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



229 



dispositions to great works, or they belong to that 
chain of benefits by which God intends to save 
us. When we misuse them we know not the 
greatness of our loss, nor the danger to which we 
expose ourselves thereby." 

After the divine word, there is no external 
means employed by the Church to lead us to God 
more efficacious than the ceremonies of our reli- 
gious worship; they made on Mary Guyard a great 
impression, and show how deeply she was founded 
in the spirit of Christianity. Such were her happy 
sentiments when death snatched away her spouse, 
leaving her an infant son, with little or no 
means of support. Her trials were excessive, as 
she herself admits, she knew not what to do. 
But God was her resource, she reposed in Him all 
her confidence, and He rendered her, by his grace 
and strength, superior to all her misfortunes. 

"I firmly believe," said she, " that God was 
with me, so that neither loss of goods, nor lawsuits, 
nor the indigence in which my son and I were 
plunged, gave me the least uneasiness. I had 
very little experience, J>ut the divine Spirit, who 
occupied me interiorly, filled me with faith and 
confidence, and helped me to succeed in all my 
undertakings. We have no reason to be surpris- 
ed that a God who never lets Himself be surpass- 
ed in liberality, poured out His favours so profuse- 
ly on this soul who had no reservg with him, and 
who entirely relied on His Proviuwiice. Scarcely 
had she time to reflect on her state of destitution, 
than several advantageous proposals of a second 
marriage were made her. Her wisdom and 
virtue, and great talent for business held her in 
place of riches; they caused her to be regarded as 
the happiness, and even as the treasure of whom- 
soever she espoused. It would seem that God 



230 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



willed she should not refuse such favourable 
occasions of providing for herself and her son, 
but a wisdom superior to that of men taught her 
to view things under a different aspect. She 
declared, though only nineteen years old, she 
would not consent to a second union; that God, to 
whom she had consecrated him, would provide 
for her son, and take equal care of her ; that as 
He had deprived them of their property, He would 
give them other means of support, and, in fine, 
that she thought she did more for her son by thus 
placing him under the wings of Providence, than 
if she amassed him great treasures. We shall see 
hereafter that it was neither a spirit of indepen- 
dence, nor caprice, nor indolence, the ordinary 
fruits of misguided devotion, that inspired Mary 
with this resolution. She was, indeed, ever re- 
mote from tempting God, or from refusing to sacri- 
fice the sweets of solitude when charity required 
it. She often threw herself, for her neighbour, 
into greater embarrassments than those of a 
second marriage. Hence, the part she took may 
be safely attributed to Hi$ divine inspiration, who 
alone can subject hearts, and who wished to give 
in her person a striking proof that "the folly of 
God is tciser than men, and the icealcness of God 
stronger than men." Every thing now prospered 
with her, and her relations entertained great 
hopes of her succeeding in her commerce. 

But the Spirit of God, by whom alone she was 
conducted, soon gave her an ardent desire of 
quitting public life, and at the same time facili- 
tated to her the means ; nothing now required 
her remaining in business. She discharged her 
servants except one, and dressed in a man- 
ner that denoted an absolute divorce with th© 
world, notwithstanding the entreaties of her 



• 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



231 



friends not to bury thus the talent she had for 
trade and business. Her father having taken her 
home, she dwelt in the most retired part of the 
house, having no occupation, save that of edu- 
cating her son and contemplating celestial 
truths. This young man proved himself worthy 
of such a mother; until he reached the age of 
twelve years, was never out of her sight, and 
has since declared that he was transported out of 
himself when he remembered her salutary advi- 
ces and instructions. By the celestial life she led, 
the inflamed sighs she continually sent forth, her 
modest and recollected air, her attention over 
herself removed from the eyes of creatures as if 
she had been in their company, it was easy to 
conclude, he said, that she never lost sight of the 
divine presence. 

But this great application to God did not 
cause her to forget her neighbour. She knew the 
obligations of a christian widow, and not being 
able to relieve the poor by alms, she rendered 
them the services most painful to nature. She 
sought out the indigent who were covered with 
sores and ulcers, and assigned them a time for 
coming to her; after placing them in an arm-chair, 
she knelt down, washed their sores, and applied 
to them the proper remedies. Her son, who was 
the only witness of these heroic deeds, says, that 
she treated these poor members of Christ with the 
greatest respect. She had scarcely passed a 
year in this manner, when it was evinced that 
charity had more influence over her than self- 
interest. One of her sisters, engaged in exten- 
sive business, asked her to come and assist her: at 
first, the proposal alarmed her, and she felt some 
repugnance to sacrifice to friendship that repose 
to which she had sacrificed her fortune ; yet, after 



232 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



consulting heaven, she willingly complied with her 
sister's wish, and God did not fail to recompense 
her. Now guided bj one of the most enlightened 
directors of his day, and instructed by the peru- 
sal of the Introduction to a Devout Life of St. 
Francis de Sales, she made a rapid progress in 
evangelical perfection. God, at this time, im- 
printed in her soul so elevated an idea of the 
purity a soul should have to be worthy of being 
consecrated to him, that it cannot be imagined 
how sensible she became to the least imperfec- 
tions, nor how carefully she avoided them. 

" I every day receive,'' said she, "new graces 
from our Lord. Once, during my prayer, he 
gave me a strong idea of the purity a soul should 
have to be worthy of being united to Him: I 
beheld, in an admirable manner, a soul and the 
Majesty of God; this soul was endowed with a 
celestial purity, free from all imperfection. She 
united herself to God, and he attracted her like a 
sacred diamond to bury her in Himself. Ever 
after, I had a continual care that nothing might 
approach my heart which* could impede its union 
with its only good. One day, that I committed a 
light fault, I was filled with fear and confusion 
before the Majesty of God. He said to me inte- 
riorily, ' If a painter drew a beautiful picture, 
would he be content that a person might defile it?' 
This humbled me still more, and showed me 
evidently what purity God requires in the soul, 
and how earnestly he desires she might advance 
in virtue.' ' 

Meantime, it would seem that Mary Guyard's 
sister had no other object in asking her to reside 
with her, than to make her a common drudge ; she 
was obliged to perform the most abject employs, 
those for which she indeed was not destined ; but 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



233 



God, in the secrets of His Providence, permitted 
them to think her incapable of any other. Thus, 
for three or four years she was exposed to conti- 
nual humiliations from the masters and servants. 
Far from complaining of this unkind treatment, 
she found it insufficient to satisfy her insatiable 
desire of crosses and humiliations. She regarded 
her sister and her husband as her best friends, 
and took great care of the domestics when ill, 
notwithstanding their rudeness and bad treat- 
ment. Such admirable conduct could not fail of 
gaining the heart of Him, who only invites us to 
love Him, that he may testify towards us recipro- 
cal love. He indeed made her advance rapidly 
in the way of perfection: having placed in her 
soul the foundation of a solid humility, a great 
purity of heart, and a perfect abnegation. As 
soon . as she had reached the age of twenty-one 
years, she was allowed to make a vow of perpe- 
tual chastity ; no sooner had she thus consecrated 
herself to God, than she recognised by a great 
increase of graces, how acceptable had been her 
sacrifice. 

After four years had passed in this manner, 
her confessor, wishing to put a period to her 
trials, showed her sister how cruel and unjust it 
was to treat her in such a manner, who in no wise 
deserved it, and from whom she could derive 
other more essential services. This was suffi- 
cient; her sister and brother-in-law now begged 
her to take the whole management of their affairs, 
and she was obliged to accede, whatever might be 
her repugnance, since it was the will of her con- 
fessor. Her brother-in-law was commissary gene- 
ral for the transport of merchandize through all 
France, and held a considerable office in th8 
artillery, and had likewise other affairs to trans- 



234 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



act, "which caused him to keep a great number of 
domestics; the charitable widow superintended all, 
and yet neglected none of her former occupations, 
which were the more dear to her as they were ac- 
companied by humiliations. In the midst of so 
many embarrassments, she lost not her application 
to God, nor was her progress in virtue at all impe- 
ded. Her soul each day soared anew to heaven, 
and became more and more united to Jesus 
Christ by the most ineffable communications, the 
detail of which would only suit souls far advanced 
in the way to perfection. Suffice it to say, that 
God rewarded the pious efforts of this holy woman 
to please him, by continually disposing her for 
the accomplishment of his designs. Whilst these 
wonders of grace were internally operated in her, 
she only appeared, as to the exterior, occupied 
with domestic affairs, and which would have over- 
whelmed any other less faithful and courageous. 
She endeavoured to procure the salvation of the 
numerous servants and workmen connected with 
her sister's establishment, and found nothing 
painful or abject when there was question of pre- 
venting them from committing sin, or of inducing 
them to some good action. She had so far gain- 
ed their confidence, that they candidly gave her 
an account of their whole conduct. Profiting of 
their good dispositions, she sometimes assembled 
them to instruct them in their duties. When 
they failed to follow her advice, she reproved 
them with zeal and charity : all were submissive 
to her as children to their mother; she was their 
refuge in wants, their mediatrix with the master 
when they incurred his displeasure. When sick, 
she waited on and served them, and procured 
them every advantage within her reach. 

Her care of others did not diminish her zeal 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



235 



for her own perfection; in effect, it sometimes 
became that devouring fire mentioned in the sacred 
text, consuming in her every thought and senti- 
ment which had not God for its object. What we 
know of her spirit of penance, proves the grace 
God communicates to those whom be wishes to 
form for himself, for she treated her body most 
rigorously. When she considered the necessity of 
satisfying for sin, uniting herself to the cross of 
her Saviour, she submitted to every pain, and 
imposed on herself innumerable privations for her 
offences and those of the world. 

As it was the education of her son alone retain- 
ed her in the world, he having now attained his 
twelfth year, she determined on obeying the 
voice of the Lord, who called her to the religious 
life, and began to think seriously of choosing an 
institute. The perusal of St. Teresa's works, 
inclined her at first to the Carmelites, but Provi- 
dence destined her for the Ursulines, who just 
then founded a convent at Tours, their functions 
agreeing better with her great desire of labouring 
for her neighbour, than those of other religious. 
To follow her vocation to this holy institute, she 
rejected the advantageous offers of the superior 
general of the Feuillantines, and those of the 
Bishop of D61, who both wished to have her, the 
former- in a monastery of his order, the latter 
in a convent of the Visitation, which he intended 
founding in his diocese. The devil raised several 
obstacles to the accomplishment of her pious 
desires, but all were happily surmounted, so 
after having regulated her aifairs, and provided 
for the spiritual and corporal wants of her son, 
some hours before she entered the convent, she 
took him aside, and spoke. to him in the following 
terms : it is to himself we are indebted for detail, 



238 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



"My Son," said she, "I have to tell you a secret 
hitherto concealed from you, because you were 
not old enough to understand its importance ; but 
now, that your reason begins to become more ripe, 
and that I am on the point of executing my design, 
I cannot any longer hide it from you. From the 
time of your father's death, God has given me a 
great desire of being a nun; this desire became 
stronger in time, and if I have not executed it, 
it is because I did not wish to leave you, thinking 
that your tender age required my presence. I 
did not wish to abandon you without your know- 
ledge, though I could do so : for when there is 
question of a person's salvation, and there now is 
of mine, no one's permission is necessary ; but I 
did not wish to afflict you, and hence I have taken 
you aside to ask your consent. God wills it, my 
child,- and if we love Him, we shall submit ; it is for 
Him to command, and for us to obey. If our sepa- 
ration afflicts you, remember God confers on me 
a great honour in calling me thus to serve him : 
besides, I shall pray for you continually — are you 
not satisfied then I should go?" "But," said the 
little boy in a voice half broken by sighs, "X shall 
see you no more." "0 do not say that," replied 
his mother, "you will see me as often as you 
please; sure the Ursuline Convent is next door." 

"Well," said he, "in that case I am satisfied !" 

The virtuous woman then resumed, ''Since you 
are content, my son, behold, I withdraw; I leave 
you no property, God will be your inheritance, as 
he has been mine. You do not lose your mother 
in losing me, for I give you another, who can and 
will do infinitely more for you — I mean, the ever 
blessed Virgin : call her your mother, go to her 
in all your wants, reminding her you are her son, 
and she will take care of you. My sister promises 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



237 



to provide for you, till God disposes of you accord- 
ing to the order of his Providence; obey her as 
you would me, respect your relations, honour all 
men, avoid bad company, frequent the society of 
those only who love God, frequently approach the 
holy sacraments, pray devoutly, give yourself 
entirely to God, and he will take care of you; what- 
ever state you may be in, may he be ever with 
you my dear child." After speaking thus, she 
arose and went to the Ursulines, her son walked 
by her side bathed in tears. From that moment 
he became the child of Providence, having no 
other wealth than the instructions and example 
of his pious mother. 

The first moments of her new career were not 
exempt from pains; her friends pressed her to 
return to the world, and went so far with their 
entreaties, that she feared the nuns would have dis- 
missed her. But the first trials ceased, the Jesuits 
took charge of her son, at the suit of the arch- 
bishop of Tours, and Sister Mary of the Incarna- 
tion as she was called in religion, experienced 
that the sacrifices made to God by parents, inva- 
riably turn to the profit of their children. 

She had very soon to combat trials of another 
kind; she was tried by every temptation, all the 
powers of hell seemed armed against her, and 
Heaven seemed to abandon her to her own 
resources. Nevertheless, her virtue and resigna- 
tion were not diminished; these trials only fortified 
her, and disposed her for the reception of new 
favours. The mother of the Incarnation was not 
one of those who, only occupied with projecting 
an uncommon sanctity in perspective, absolutely 
neglect to practise the virtues proper to their 
present state, particularly humility of heart, and 
exactness to all their duties. She never lost sight 



238 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



of the designs of God over her, and which he 
insensibly developed, and her attention to them 
only increased her application to the duties im- 
posed on her. 

No sooner had she pronounced her vows, than 
she was charged with the direction of the novices. 
We cannot describe the exertions she used, to 
make them acquire the spirit of the institute, 
and she was endowed with a great facility in 
giving religious instruction. But she did not con- 
fine herself to words or exhortations. She com- 
posed for the use of these young persons a cate- 
chism, regarded as the best of the kind extant in 
our language. It has been published under the 
title of The Christian School, and matters are 
therein laid down with such order and precision, 
and passages from the scriptures so happily appli- 
ed, as greatly enhances the reputation of the 
pious author. There was found among her papers, 
several sentences which she frequently put under 
the eyes of her novices, we shall content ourselves 
with citing the following. 

I. We should every day commence to love God, 
believing that the day before we did not truly 
love him, seeing nothing in the past but defects 
and imperfections. 

II. A soul is never content, as long as she 
reflects too much on herself, and too little on God. 

III. The nearer we approach God, the more we 
know, and are humbled at our nothingness, though 
we may be already possessed of great perfection. 

IV. Our anxiety to finish one thing in order to 
begin another, renders both imperfect. 

V. The most effectual mode of benefiting our* 
selves and succouring the church militant, tri- 
umphant, and suffering, is to pray and suffer. 

„ Behold the food with which the mother of the 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



239 



Incarnation nourished her children in Jesus. We 
need not then be astonished at the perfection to 
which they arrived, nor at the number of Saints 
which the congregation of St. Ursula gave to hea- 
ven. One of the most distinguished for sanctity 
among the daughters of the holy mother, was Ange- 
lique de la Valliere, who, after ennobling her order 
by the practice of the most heroic virtues, offered 
herself to God in quality of victim, to procure the 
conversion of her illustrious niece the Duchess 
de la Valliere, mistress of Louis 14th, and thus 
procured the church one of the rarest examples 
of christian penance. No employ could better 
suit the inclinations of the mother of the Incar- 
nation, than that of guiding the novices. To 
make Jesus Christ known and loved, was the 
object of all her thoughts, the sum total of her 
desires. " 0 eternal Father," she used to exclaim, 
" give me a voice loud enough to be heard at the 
extremities of the earth, that I may publish in all 
places how worthy is my divine Spouse of reign- 
ing in all hearts." The Jesuits established in 
Canada, as well as those among the Hurons, for 
a long time desired the establishment of the Ursu- 
lines at Quebec. Father Paul, superior general of 
the mission, in the annual relation of what was 
edifying in the infant church, according to the 
custom of the missionaries, thus expressed him- 
self, " Could there be not found some holy soul 
who will collect for the poor little savages the 
blood of her Spouse, Jesus Christ ?" 

Just then lived at Alenson a young lady very 
rich, named Magdalen de Chauvigny, relict of 
Mr. de la Peltrie, of the house of Tounoys. She 
had received from nature most happy dispositions, 
and from her parents such an excellent education, 
that she became the darling of her family, and 



240 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



the admiration of all who knew her. As soon as 
she was capable of reflecting, she felt that God 
wished to be the master of her heart, and took 
measures to enter into a monastery. But God 
had other designs, and destined her to join the 
Mother of the Incarnation ; he would not permit 
that these two women might pursue a course, 
which, depriving the one of goods, and the other 
of a knowledge of business, would incapacitate 
them for the important work he intended to con- 
fide to them. 

Magdalen then married Mr. de la Peltrie in 
obedience to her parents : he died soon; she had 
only one daughter, who came into the world only 
to increase the number of the predestined, Now 
disengaged, she thought at once of executing her 
former project of entering a monastery; but while 
she for the present applied herself to the relief 
of the poor, for whom she had always great com- 
passion, her zeal changed its object, and she felt 
interiorly pressed to pass into foreign countries, 
to labour for the salvation of souls. Thus dispos- 
ed, the relation of Father Paul fell into her hands, 
and its perusal made on her so great an impres- 
sion, that she determined on devoting herself 
and her large fortune to the salvation of the little 
savages. An enterprise so unexampled, should 
not be entirely resolved upon without having con- 
sulted God; this Magdalen did, and heaven delay- 
ed not to enlighten her by a means which bor- 
dered on the marvellous. She was attacked by a 
severe illness, and to procure her re-establishment, 
promised to devote the rest of her life to foreign 
missions, and her health was instantly restored. 

Meantime while all promised success, God puri- 
fied more and more by divers sorts of trials the 
mother of the Incarnation, and while Madame de 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



241 



la Peltrie prepared to execute her vow, she met 
such opposition as would have overthrown a for- 
titude less invincible than her own; indeed, her en- 
terprise was rendered for a time physically impos- 
sible. Her father absolutely required her to marry 
again, and perceiving her repugnance, declared if 
she refused him this satisfaction, it would occasion 
his death. This greatly afflicted her generous 
and affectionate heart ; not knowing what course 
to pursue, she sought to give another direction 
to her father's desire, when, lo ! he was called out 
of life. But new difficulties awaited her. Some 
of her friends, seeing with vexation the rich 
presents she gave to the churches, and her liber- 
ality to the poor, took the resolution of declaring 
her incapable of managing her property, and only 
fit to waste and mispend it. The president at 
Caen gave sentence in their favour, but the Par- 
liament of Rouen annulled it ; then she no longer 
thought but of proceeding to Paris, and termina- 
ting her grand affair. The moment she arrived in 
the capital, she consulted thereon persons of the 
most eminent sanctity. Those whom she spoke 
to oftenest were Father Gourdren, general of 
the Oratorians, and St. Vincent of Paul, the illus- 
trious founder of the Lazarites and sisters of 
charity. Both these men, after having maturely 
examined her design, and the attractive she con- 
ceived for it, assured her it came from Heaven* 
all the rest whom she consulted thought so too, 
so she was now only occupied in planning its exe- 
cution. 

Father Poncet, of the Society of Jesus, was 
then preparing to sail for Quebec, and Magdalen 
having consulted him on the choice of subjects for 
the little community at Canada, he immediately 
pointed out the mother of the Incarnation. He 



242 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



wrote to her concerning it, and though hitherto un- 
acquainted with the project, she was by no means 
surprised, for she felt that the designs of God on 
her were about to be accomplished. The news gave 
her extreme joy, as appears in her letter to M. 
de la Peltrie. The saints being closely united 
with God, have little to do to be perfectly so among 
themselves. Virtue is the strongest bond of friend- 
ship. Madame de la Peltrie intended to sail in- 
stantly; she surmounted the difficulty by fitting out 
a vessel at her own expense, and then occupied her- 
self in choosing the religious who were to accom- 
pany her. When she decided for the mother of 
the Incarnation, the archbishop of Tours was soli- 
cited for permission to let her depart; this ho 
gave most willingly, and the venerable woman 
proceeded to join M. de la Peltrie at Paris, there 
to await the moment of departure. But a great 
storm was now raised against the Mother of the 
Incarnation. Her sister, quite furious at learning 
she was going to leave France and devote herself 
to teach the little savages to know and love God, 
put all in play to upset her pious design. To 
persuade her that by such a course she would 
leave her son without resource, she revoked in 
presence of a notary the pension she had allotted 
him in gratitude for the services rendered her by 
his mother, and the blessing she drew down on 
her affairs. This step having proved ineffectual 
towards moving her pious sister, she stirred up 
her nephew against the designs of Providence; he 
came to meet his mother between Orleans and 
Paris, and showed her in a letter from his aunt to 
him, the frightful abandonment in which her 
voyage to Canada was going to plunge him. 
"Alas!" said she on perusing it, "what artifices 
the world adopts to cross the designs of God!" 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



243 



Then turning to her son, "it is eight years," con- 
tinued she, " since I quitted you to give myself to 
God; have you ever wanted any thing?" — "No," 
he replied. "Well," she continued, " should not 
the experience of the past animate your confi- 
dence for the future? In separating myself from 
you for the love of our divine Lord, and in obedi- 
ence to his will, I prayed him to be a Father to 
you, and He has, you see, been so beyond our 
most sanguine hopes. He will continue to be so 
if you are faithful, if you confide in His amiable 
Providence. 4 Nothing is wanting to those who 
fear him.' I am leaving you to go to Canada in 
obedience to his command; He could not confer on 
me a greater honour than to select me for the 
execution of this great design; if you loved me 
you would feel joy thereat." She spoke in such 
a noble and tender accent, that the young man, 
quite gained over, forgot his personal interests, 
and went to tell his friends he would never ask 
them for any thing, and was quite ready to sacri- 
fice his beloved mother. It is difficult to say if 
we should more admire the faith of the mother, 
than the submission of the new Isaac, her son. 

When the holy woman arrived at Paris, the 
Queen expressed a wish to see her, she was also 
visited by most of the ladies at court. The 
duchess d'Aiguillon offered to take charge of her 
son and advance him in the world, but as she only 
desired for him the treasure of evangelical poverty, 
considering riches a great obstacle to salvation, 
she gratefully thanked her, but firmly refused the 
offer. This beloved child, but beloved in God, 
afterwards became a religious Benedictine of the 
congregation of St. Maur, and is the celebrated 
Dom Claude Martin. 

The Lord now consummated the generous de- 



244 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



sires of his servant the 4th of May, feast of St. 
Monica, 1639. They arrived early in the port of 
Dieppe. The mother of the Incarnation and two 
other Ursulines had been conducted from their 
monastery to that of the Hospitalieres, to take 
three religious of that order who were also going 
to form an establishment in Quebec under the 
patronage, and by the liberalities of the duchess 
d'Aiguillon. Every moment seemed long to the 
pious widow to expose her life for God; "I had 
little to risk," said she, "my life was nothing, but 
I joined thereto the sacrifice of my heart and af- 
fections. When just ready to embark, I prostrated 
myself in this disposition before the holy Sacra- 
ment in the choir of the mother's Hospitalieres, 
and I offered myself to God as a perpetual holo- 
caust. At once I found He possessed my soul, 
and gave it movements suitable to the action I 
was about to perform. The wind soon filled our 
sails after we went on board, and I quitted 
France for ever, firmly resolved to consecrate my 
life to procuring the subjection of the savage 
tribes to the sweet yoke of Jesus Christ." 

Thus the Mother of the Incarnation saw fulfill- 
ed what had been previously foreshown to her, as 
she herself relates. "About the year 1633," says 
she, "soon after I had made my profession, hav- 
ing retired one evening after matins to our cell, 
it seemed to me, in a light slumber into which 
I fell, that I caught hold of the hand of a young 
secular lady, and walked forward with her so as 
to precede her, yet without leaving her behind; 
our road lay towards a place of embarkation; we 
remained together during the voyage, and at 
length arrived at a most extensive country. On 
landing, we ascended the coast by a passage 
about the breadth of a large gate, at the opening 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



245 



of which appeared a man, clothed after the man- 
ner in which the apostles are represented to us. 
Having made a signal for me to advance towards 
the place of our habitation, I found on arriving 
there a little church, and a fine well-built monas- 
tery. Without stopping to consider the beauty of 
its structure, I felt powerfully attracted towards 
the little church, my companion being still with 
me. On advancing, we soon saw the extent of this 
vast country. It appeared to me covered with a 
thick fog ; a church was visible in the midst, but 
almost buried in darkness. The atmosphere was 
involved in a frightful gloom which seemed impe- 
netrable. 

" My companion then quitted me and descend- 
ed a little into the thickness of the fog, but I only 
longed to be soon at the little church pointed out 
to me. It was made of fine white marble, orna- 
mented with ancient sculpture. The Holy Virgin 
was seated in the midst, regarding the vast plain, 
and bearing the divine Infant. The Mother and 
the Son appeared so amiable, that I thought 
I could never get close enough to them to satisfy 
my devotion. When I did, I was greatly amazed 
to find that they were not of marble but of flesh, 
and that the blessed Virgin, after looking pitifully 
on this abandoned country, stooped her head to 
tell the little Jesus. I thought she mentioned 
my name, which interested me still more. She 
appeared from fifty to sixty years old, and so 
beautiful that the impression is still new in my 
imagination. 

' 6 I awoke with a strong idea of the conversion 
of this country, but knew not still what the vision 
meant, until another day in the choir, having 
received a new impression of it in all its circum- 
stances, the divine Majesty said to me interiorly, 



CATHOLIC BIOGBAPHY. 



'It is Canada I have shown thee; thither thou art 
to go to build a house for Jesus and Mary/ Now 
I had never before heard of such a place, except 
when persons, to frighten children, said, I shall 
send you to Canada. I cannot doubt that the 
man who directed my course, and who seemed to be 
the guardian of the country, was the great St. 
Joseph, for Jesus and Mary could not be separa- 
ted from him." — So far our Mother of the Incar- 
nation. 

Besides the six religious we have named, 
Madame de la Peltrie, a female attendant, and 
Father Thimond of the Society of Jesus, who was 
just then nominated superior general of the 
Canadian missions, in place of Father Paul, em- 
barked in the same vessel. 

During the voyage, which lasted three months, 
the nuns every day chaunted the office in two 
choirs, the Ursulines at one side, and the Hospi- 
talieres at the other. Mass was celebrated every 
day, except during one fortnight, that the agita- 
tion of the sea would not permit. After escaping 
many dangers, the vessel arrived at Quebec, 1st 
August, 1639. 

The first thing we did on landing, writes the 
Mother of the Incarnation, was to kiss that 
ground on which we came to spend our lives in 
the service of God and our poor savages, we 
then went to the church and chaunted the Te 
Deum. The governor afterwards conducted us to 
the fort, and after dinner, he himself, with all the 
Jesuit Fathers then at Quebec, led us to the 
places destined for our respective habitations. 

Next day, the superior general and Father 
Paul, who just then resigned his office, caused us 
to enter the nearest huts of our dear brethren the 
poor savages. We were delighted on hearing them 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



247 



sing the divine praises in their own tongue. The 
first christian committed her daughter to us, and 
in a short time we had a tolerable number, besides 
all the French girls capable of instruction. While 
we expected the erection of a monastery, we were 
lodged in a small cabin with only two rooms. 
Yery soon it became an hospital, for the small- 
pox broke out among our little savages, and three 
or four of them died. As we had no furniture, 
the beds were on the floor, and the place was so 
narrow that we were obliged to walk over them. 
God inspired my sisters with such fortitude, that 
they cheerfully bore this extreme indigence, and 
felt no disgust at the foulness of the savages. 
Our foundress was foremost in exercising that 
charity for which we had occasion every instant; 
although very delicate, she zealously applied to 
the most disgusting occupations. It was necessary, 
in order to attain our end in coming hither, to learn 
the language of the savages; this was indeed, some- 
thing new for us, for it was so barbarous that every 
word seemed to stick in my throat. It cost us 
much pains to learn it, but by the assistance of 
Jesus Christ, we were soon able not only to under- 
stand, but even to speak it. 

However fervent the zeal of these religious 
women, the smallness of their number, the incon- 
venience of their lodging, the dirt and filthiness 
of the savages, which surpassed all we can say of 
it, and the little means of remedying these evils, 
would soon have caused them to sink, if a house 
were not built, and some relief sent them from 
France. The letters from the Mother of the 
Incarnation to the Ursulines at Paris and at 
Tours, so excited them to share in the painful 
mission, that in a short time there was a pretty 
large community assembled at Quebec, and she 



248 CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 

■was by common consent elected first superior. It 
was not by disguising what she had to suffer, that 
she obtained this supply of subjects ; she dissem- 
bled nothing on the contrary, and yet the charity 
of these heroic souls was proof against all. The 
community, from increase of numbers, felt again 
its first inconvenience ; a house only large enough 
for five or six persons, was very incommodious 
•when the number was so increased. It is extra- 
ordinary how they lived in such a confined habi- 
tation, confounded with the little savage girls 
whom they instructed, and whose bad odour ren- 
dered it impossible almost to take any food; but 
the divine love which inflamed them, caused them 
to find in their sufferings, delights which are not 
tasted in the most happy and comfortable life. 
" Thanks be to God," used the Reverend Mother 
to say, "the tenderness He has given me for the 
savages is always the same ; I carry them all in 
my heart, endeavouring by my poor prayers to 
effect their salvation; I bear them in my soul, 
being ready to sacrifice my life to gain them to 
the Lord." 

As her community was formed of religious 
from Paris and Tours, whose rules varied, though 
both were Ursuline, it was necessary to establish 
uniformity in the house at Quebec, and she hap- 
pily succeeded. We may judge how fervently 
God was served by those who had sacrificed all to 
make him known to a savage people; indeed, those 
alone who know how sweet the Lord is, can form 
an idea of the peace and joy these pious women felt 
in a house where their only satisfaction was found 
in that which makes nature shudder. Their 
virtues would have honoured the solitaries of 
Thebes, and their penance was not less rigorous, 
but all became easy to them under a superior 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



249 



who only made them feel her right to command 
by alleviating their pains, and performing in 
their stead the most disgusting offices. Besides, 
they still breathed in Canada that air of sanctity, 
exhaled at all times by infant churches; tho 
Founders of this latter still lived, and as our 
holy mother used to say, it was impossible not to 
aspire to great perfection, having for conductors 
men who retraced the lives of the apostles. "We 
have here," said she in one of her letters, "men so 
disengaged from all, that they seem to be no 
longer of the earth; God operates in them so 
admirable a detachment, that among them there 
is question only, of who will go to the most remote 
and dangerous places, deprived of all human 
succour. The desires they form for each other, 
are thus expressed : ' Go — we are delighted to have 
you sent to this frightful place; may you ham the hap- 
piness of there giving your life for God. 1 Are not 
these true imitators of a crucified Master, and 
can we remain tepid at the sight of such zeal? 
shall we not advance, having persons for guides 
who run with giant steps in the way of God?" 

To judge by appearances, the Mother of tho 
Incarnation had nothing more to desire on earth. 
In possession of what she had so long sought — in 
the midst of a savage people, to whom she from 
morning till night announced the kingdom of God 
— in the continual practice of what penance has 
of most anstere, and charity of most eminent — but 
we see by her letters she had much to suffer, and 
that she endured contradictions of every species ; 
however, nothing was capable of surmounting her 
firmness. In vain did the greatest storm of tri- 
bulation try to ingulph the vessel of her soul ; she 
remained immoveable in God, .ever believed her- 
self worthy the pains she suffered, and always 



250 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



advanced with equal pace in the path of perfec- 
tion. She considered these sufferings, partly as a 
consequence of the offer she made to God in fa- 
vour of her son at a time when he showed no 
inclination to follow in her own pious footsteps. 
She made the same sacrifice in favour of one of 
her nieces, whom she learned to be in great danger 
of losing her soul : this young woman since took 
the name and place of her virtuous aunt, and died 
among the Ursulines in the odour of sanctity. 

"The fear I had," wrote our holy mother to her 
son, "that you might fall into the precipice whither 
you ran, caused me to agree with God, to bear 
the punishment due to your sins ; lest the pain 
he would inflict on you, might be the privation of 
the grace to perform that good which I expected 
from you. You cannot believe how much I endured 
in consequence." 

Withdrawn from this abyss by the prayers and 
sacrifices of his mother, young Martin became 
one of the ornaments of a religious life. This 
proves that a parent's prayers can obtain great 
graces for their children. 

We learn from the correspondence of this admi- 
rable woman with her son towards the end of her 
life, how pure, elevated, and worthy of the gospel 
was her affection for him. And here let us justify 
christian piety from this aspersion, which the 
world casts upon it, viz. that it stifles natural 
affection, and reduces us to a sort of egotism; the 
mother of the Incarnation never ceased to seek 
the temporal happiness and spiritual advantage 
of her son, though removed from him by distance 
of place, and overwhelmed with occupations. In 
her reply to the letter he wrote her when he 
forsook the world, she says, "My dearest, and 
most beloved son* may the love and grace of Jesus 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



251 



Christ be your portion, I suffered immensely 
this year on your account, beholding in spirit the 
clangers which you ran; but our divine Master has 
calmed my fears, by the persuasion that he would 
never suffer you to be lost, since I abandoned you 
only for his love. You have been forsaken by all, 
and has it not been useful to you? When I quitted 
you, my anguish was known but by God; I foresaw 
the bad treatment of our relations, and consider- 
ing the excess of human infirmity, I feared all for 
your soul. The good duchess d'Aiguillon offered 
to provide for you; but knowing the dangers of 
prosperity and desiring you might inherit, like 
myself, the rich treasure of holy poverty, I left 
you once more in the hands of the mother of 
mercy, persuaded, that since I was going to risk 
my life for her Son, she would take care of mine. 
And did she not show herself your mother ? Can 
any worldly advantages be compared with those 
which you enjoy in religion ? But being now in the 
warfare, consider well, my dear child, this sentence 
of Christ, 'He that puts his hand to the plough 
and looks back, is not fit for the kingdom of God.' 
May I learn, by the next fleet, that my vows 
unremittingly offered the divine Majesty in your 
favour for twenty years, have been received by 
him. I every day sacrifice you to his love, on 
the heart of His beloved Son. May you prove a 
holocaust worthy His acceptance.' ' 

The young cenobite in his reply, having com- 
plained that being every day sacrified on so 
inflamed an altar, he was not consumed, she 
says to him, " What, my son ! do you think we 
burn not because we do not feel the flame ? we 
should never be humble if we saw not our wretch- 
edness ; it is necessary that we sometimes be 
insensible as it were to the flame of love, that it 
may burn more purely." 



252 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



When he wrote to her on the attractive he 
experienced for solitude : " You find retreat de- 
lightful, my dear son ; it indeed is so, one never 
treats better with God than in silence ; but your 
office is to receive guests and exercise charity 
towards them. When a person loves his cell too 
much, it is well to deprive him of it for some time. 
Your superior exercises you in mortification, it is 
a sign he loves you and seeks your profit. You 
delight me, by saying, you seek humiliations, you 
want them as well as myself, the world gave us 
a share of them. Be satisfied that we are servants 
of God, it is the noblest of all titles." 

When, on terminating his studies, he wrote to 
her testifying his joy; she replied, "It is true 
that the time of study sometimes distracts and 
binders a person from sweet interior application ; 
nevertheless, as these studies are only of holy 
things, they fill the mind with good sentiments. 
I am sure your solitude will be more pleasant 
after such speculations. When you shall be shut 
up in your cell, let us join in chanting interiorly 
the mercies of God." This young religious man, 
being one time innundated with divine consola- 
tions, she said to him, "You have greatly consoled 
me, by communicating your interior dispositions. 
Be most firm in holding yourself near God in the 
manner he attracts you. Unite yourself to him 
in this state of tranquillity and repose. I am 
delighted at your disengagement from creatures, 
and at your exemption from all desire that they 
should be engaged with you. Ah ! my child, the 
kingdom of peace is in a heart thus naked of all 
things, and which, with an holy hatred of itself, 
delights in destroying the remains of corrupt 
nature, I bless the Lord for your desire of mar- 
tyrdom ; you are still young, and if you wish to 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAFEY, 



253 



be faithful to grace, you may suffer a painful one, 
even without quitting your cell. This desire 
should be a powerful stimulus to lead a penitent 
and mortified life. Such is the martyrdom God 
expects from you." As Dom Claude had a great 
talent for preaching, his mother wrote to him: 
"Do you know, my dear son, that I found it im- 
possible to ask for you anything of God, besides 
the gospel virtues, particularly poverty of spirit ? 
I thank God for your spirit of the interior life; it 
proceeds from this holy poverty, and will purify 
whatever remains too human in your exercise of 
preaching." 

As this pious woman recounted to him her com- 
bats, and the graces and victories she received 
from Heaven, he did the same, and made her 
acquainted with all his spiritual miseries, to which 
she replied: " Do not be dejected, dear child; con- 
tinue your charitable care of this lady. It is the 
novelty of the employ which annoys you ; when 
you are more experienced therein, all your pain 
will vanish ; though it continued, you should not 
desist; the devil, who does not wish us to exercise 
charity, often raises such storms to intimidate us. 
I know a holy man who is a martyr in this point, 
and yet he pursues it generously; do you do so for 
the love of God, and the salvation of this soul. 
We must, like the saints, pass through many tribu- 
lations, to attain that purity of mind and body 
which God demands of us. I am far from number- 
ing myself with them, being a great sinner, but 
see what I suffered for seven years and more, in 
different occasions; we cannot lead a spiritual life 
long without such trials." On another occasion 
she wrote to him, " You are engaged in many 
spiritual and temporal affairs; it is difficult for a 
poor creature to transact such matters without 



254 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



some little defects; but these faults are not 
infidelities, but fragilities, which are cured by 
that fund of union with God, which subsists habi- 
tually in the heart and mind ; repeated acts of love 
in this union, wonderfully sanctify a soul. When 
once God confers on the soul, (and he usually does 
in this holy union,) the gifts of wisdom and under- 
standing, distractions do not injure her. I beseech 
him to endow you with both, for His glory and 
your sanctification, and that of those whom he has 
placed under your direction." 

Another time she wrote, "I do not doubt but 
your bodily strength is diminished ; your retreat, 
studies, cares, and great austerities are the cause; 
but we live only to die, the saints have passed 
through greater difficulties. Take courage then, 
my child, and spend yourself in the service of our 
good Master." Again, she wrote, "I thank our 
Lord for the graces he bestows on you in the 
interior life. 0 ! what a blessed thing it is to be 
called and continue faithful in this holy path. 
The pains you experienced benefited you, and 
will serve you greatly in the conduct of souls." 

" Ah ! my dear son," wrote she to him, on learn- 
ing that he was removed to another monastery, 
a^nd advanced to one of the principal offices, 44 who 
would have believed, or even thought in seeing 
you and me after your father's death, that you 
would not only be called by God to the religious 
profession, but even raised to one of the first 
employs of the order? Indeed, it is because I 
have forsaken you for his love, and demanded 
nothing for your inheritance, but the poverty of 
his Son. Do you remember, I told you if I aban- 
doned you he would take care of you? Indeed, it 
was because I felt convinced of it ; I never per- 
formed an act with more confidence in him than 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



* 255 



this." Now, who will say, after perusing these few 
extracts, that religion destroys human and natural 
affection? 

Trials succeeded trials with the mother of the 
Incarnation — the persecution of the Iroquois, a 
neighbouring people, afflicted her, when her other 
sufferings were at a close. Several Jesuit mis- 
sionaries were either burned or massacred by this 
barbarous horde, and all who escaped their fury 
with the rest of the christian Hurons, were obliged 
to take refuge in Quebec. "0 how sensibly I 
felt this stroke," writes she, "for the fathers who 
eluded the fire and sword of the Iroquois, suffered 
more than those who became their victims. The 
only consolation I had, was to hope we should have 
the daughters of these poor fugitive Hurons, and 
in this expectation I studied their language, for 
hitherto I had only applied myself to that of the 
Algonquins and Montaguais. 

They were not alone spiritual succours which 
the good mother procured these poor savages per- 
secuted for their faith; she provided for their 
corporal wants, with the greatest zeal and tender- 
ness. But a new cross awaited her, a fire destroy- 
ed her monastery to the very foundation. This 
stroke only increased her virtues ; and her reli- 
gious, instructed in the same school, and supported 
by the same principles, blessed the Lord for hav- 
ing thus despoiled them. But God, who only 
wished to try them, when every misfortune 
threatened them — when the English at one side, 
and the Iroquois at the other, menaced them with 
destruction, and that their best friends were of 
opinion they should return to France — the monas- 
tery was rebuilt, and with so marked a protection 
of Heaven, that none could fail to recognize it. 

In the midst of all her labours and sufferings, 



256 * 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



our servant of God was a living rule; her conduct 
was uniform and religious. She was the first at 
every duty, and would have charged herself with 
every fatigue, if she were not convinced it was no 
less her duty to see good practised by others, 
than to do it herself. But her charity and humi- 
lity made her every day invent new means of 
deceiving the fervour of her religious, to charge 
herself with part of their employs, without dimi- 
nishing their merits. She might be seen almost 
at the same moment, washing, or caressing, or 
instructing the little savages; or with the work- 
men, consoling them in their painful tasks ; or serv- 
ing in the lowest offices of the community, and at 
the same time performing all the duties which 
her superiority required. However fatigued, she 
was always the last to lie down, and the first to 
rise ; ever in prayer or in action, she offered in 
her person, as well as in her words, the most per- 
fect model of religious perfection. We know not 
in detail the pains she had to endure ; but if God 
proportioned them, as he generally does, to the 
celestial favours he conferred on her, they must 
have been very great. But nothing disturbed the 
peace of her soul, nor diminished her charity and 
sweetness towards those who annoyed her most. 
Her patience seemed miraculous to those who 
witnessed her bodily pains, during the last eight 
years of her life. 

In 1664 she was attacked by ill health for the 
first time ; she grew better, but never after per- 
fectly recovered. In this state she wished to 
resign her charge of superior, but was not permit- 
ted. To look at her, one would imagine her inca- 
pable of airy duty; and yet, she was the first at 
every observance, transacted all the business of 
the convent, wrote a prodigious number of letters, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY 



and translated immense dictionaries into the 
language of the savages, to facilitate the study 
thereof to her religious ; in fine, at the age of 
seventy years, and in a "body oppressed with infir- 
mity, she did all what would seem to surpass the 
energies of a vigorous constitution. Her manner 
of prayer every day became more simple and 
sublime. " I am at the feet of the divine Majesty," 
said she, " with no other words than 6 My God ! 
Be thou blessed, 0 my God ! ' Days and nights 
pass in repeating them, I hope I shall expire while 
they are on my lips." 

Her spiritual delights were interrupted by a 
trial common to the servants of God — a fear of 
the divine judgments. She bore this assault like 
all others, and supported herself against it by 
humility and confidence. This mingling of fear 
and love, was one of the greatest favours she 
thought Heaven conferred on her, since it pre- 
served her from the dangers of presumption. 
Wishing to have her wholly to himself, God de- 
prived her of Madam Peltrie ; she died 23rd No- 
vember, 1671, a most happy death. Since she 
had been in Canada, she led a hidden life, and 
seemed to have no other end than to annihilate 
herself in the minds of men. Poor, austere even 
to excess, she charged herself with what was most 
disgusting in the management of the little savages, 
for whom she had sacrificed all; and under a 
secular habit she was one of the most perfect 
models of imitation, which might be proposed to 
a religious community. Her greatest admirer, 
because she knew her best, was our mother of the 
Incarnation ; these two great souls were most 
closely linked by the ties of holy friendship. 
During her life Madame Peltrie seemed not to be 
much noticed, but at her death, it was seen how 
17 



258 



CATHOLIC BIOGIIAFHY. 



far her reputation had spread, and how generally 
it was known that Canada was indebted to her 
for the establishment of a house, which was of the 
greatest utility to the colony. Every one made 
her panegyric, all bewailed her loss; the most 
solemn obsequies were performed for her in the 
Ursuline church. The Jesuits paid her the same 
honours in theirs: her heart, as she had desired, was 
deposited under the step of their high altar, and 
her funeral oration was pronounced in the same 
place. 

This loss produced the same effect as all others 
on the mother of the Incarnation; that firmness 
of soul for which she was so remarkable, did not 
prevent her evincing all the tenderness of her 
heart. This had already been remarked, on occa- 
sion of the death of a dear religious, who had 
accompanied her from Tours, mother Mary of St. 
Joseph. She has left us of her an historic eulogy, 
which has been printed with her letters, and that 
at once evinces the beauty of her genius and the 
goodness of her heart. Scarcely three months 
elapsed after the death of Madam Peltrie, when 
our mother was taken so ill, that from the fifth 
day of her malady, the physicians despaired of 
her life. 

Extended on her painful couch, she edified all so 
much that some who could not be refused, remained 
the whole day in her chamber. Such sweetness 
and resignation appeared in her every word and 
action, as inspired devotion. She rejoiced to see 
herself crucified with Christ, and had continually 
on her lips these words of St. Paul: With Christ 
I am fastened to the cross, (Galat. ii. 19.) She 
recovered, nevertheless, by a sort of miracle, but 
her health was never quite re-established. The 
most painful surgical operations found her almost 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



1 259 



impassible ; except one day, when, as they applied a 
burning caustic, she shivered a little ; this sensibi- 
lity to pain confused her so much, that she demand- . 
ed for it as a public scandal. She received the last 
Sacraments with great fervour, but evinced not 
the same anxiety to die as she did three months 
before, because note she desired nothing what- 
soever but the accomplishment of the will of God ; 
perhaps it was that she might reach this point of 
perfection, that her life was prolonged miracu- 
lously. 

Feeling herself at extremity, she asked once 
more for the little savages, to bid them a last fare- 
well, and about mid-day 30th April, feast of St. 
Catherine of Sienna, 1672, she entered into her 
agony, losing only the power of speech and hear- 
ing. She tenderly kissed her crucifix, bathed it 
with her tears, and after casting a last look at 
her dear children in Jesus, and heaving a pro- 
found sigh, she expired with an expression ot joy 
on her countenance, accompanied with such 
majesty, that her soul seemed to communicate to 
her body the glory it possessed. 

As for Madame de la Peltrie, with whom this ven- 
erable mother was so intimately connected, by the 
fidelity with which she corresponded to the grace of 
her vocation, she made a proportionate progress in 
virtue, during the thirty-three years she survived 
in Canada. Zeal for the conversion of its inhabi- 
tants was her moving spring. She would will- 
ingly have run over the forests, mountains, and 
deserts of this vast country, to cry in the ears of 
the people who abode in it, that there was a God, 
a Jesus, a Paradise, and a Hell. But it was 
necessary to breathe a little, to establish the mon- 
astery which she had undertaken, and help her 
dear daughters in their functions, when she had 



260 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



fixed them therein. When that was accomplished, 
about two years after her arrival, she went to 
. Montreal to make new conquests among the savage 
tribes ; but this not sufficing to her zeal, she 
resolved to go to the country of the Hurons, 
300 leagues from Quebec, though the way to it 
would strike terror into the most courageous 

o 

heart, until a Jesuit Father having convinced her 
of the inutility of her visit, she contented herself 
with founding there a permanent mission. 

Being now convinced that she would not fully 
satisfy her vocation, if she did not concur in the 
conversion of these poor souls by prayers, absti- 
nences, enclosure with the nuns, and subjection to 
their rule ; she undertook it, and persevered with 
as great fidelity, as if she had been a religious by 
profession. She prevented the sisters in what 
regarded religious discipline, and animated them 
by her obedience to the Superioress. The bell 
was never more punctually tolled than when she 
was ringer, says her historian. In the office of 
giving out the linen, which she exercised eighteen 
years, she made a thousand excuses to the nuns, 
that the things were not so convenient as she 
desired. She loved the poor exceedingly, and 
always wished to have one of them with her. 
When it was objected to her that it were better 
done to give old torn clothes, which she usually 
wore, to the members of Christ, she said, she would 
rather give them new ones if she could. 

Her humility caused her to perform for the 
sick the most abject offices, and with a kindness 
which charmed all. She took the last place in 
the choir, refectory, and community. She dis- 
liked much the title of foundress, so justly due to 
her, saying, she was a poor creature who had done 
nothing but offend God. She never spoke of her- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



261 



self but with great humility. One day that the 
little pensioners were sent to ask her benediction, 
she said, " My children, to whom do you address 
yourselves ? to the vilest creature on the face or 
the earth." She was not distinguished from the 
rest, except by a more striking humility; she 
adhered to the rule in every point, she sometimes 
even anticipated the community. 

This pious widow dissembled with incredible 
sweetness the little troubles incident to a religious 
house, however holy it may be. She always 
admitted she was wrong, and asked pardon on her 
knees, saying, "It is I, my dear sister, who have 
annoyed you, by my pride and impatience. Now 
do beg of God to convert me, and firmly believe 
that I love you with all my heart. Though 
favoured with such a gift of prayer, that she spoke 
sublimely of holy things to those who visited her, 
she was most reserved in this matter in the com- 
munity, and never introduced it except by the 
way of procuring information. When sometimes 
at recreation she was pressed to declare her sen- 
timents, she replied, " What shall I say, but that 
I am always unfaithful to the grace of God V 

A person of robust health could scarcely support 
the mortifications she exercised on her delicate 
body. She used to refuse the little comforts 
which were judged necessary, and when she heard 
that some soul was in danger of being lost, she 
redoubled her austerities. 

But for her humility she would have approached 
the holy table every day. To console herself for 
this privation of her only good, she procured for 
the monastery the celebration of all the masses 
she could ; and whatever conversation she was 
engaged in, when the bell announced the holy 
sacrifice, she at once quitted the parlour. 



262 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



A soul so full of virtues and merits was fruit 
ripe for heaven. Our Lord called her to himself 
the 19th November, 1671, in the sixtj-eighth year 
of her age, after she had endured for seven days 
a violent pleurisy. She received the last sacra- 
ments from Monsieur de Bernieres, grand vicar of 
Quebec and Superior of the monastery, and nephew 
of him who had regulated her affairs for Canada. 
She edified all in her last moments. It was then 
if ever was fulfilled this of the wise man, " He 
who fears the Lord, shall be blessed in his latter 
end," 



263 



MADAME CANDIDA HIU, 
Grand-daughter of the Chancellor of China. 

FROM THE FRENCH OF ABBE CARROT. 



The faith of Jesus Christ having been preached 
in the vast empire of China, by the fathers of the 
society of Jesus, in the sixteenth century, was 
embraced by many. Candida, daughter of James 
Siu, son of the celebrated Colao, or prime minister 
of China, a man whose ministry was as glorious 
to his country, as it was distinguished by his zeal 
for the propagation of the true faith, was born in 
the province of Nankin, about the commencement 
of the seventeenth century. She received in holy 
baptism the name of Candida, because the cere- 
mony was performed on the feast of the blessed 
martyr of that name, and was in due time per- 
fectly instructed in the duties of religion, and 
maxims of salvation, by a mother renowned 
among the Neophytes* for her piety, and she 
profited so well of what she heard, that at the age 
of ten years, she placed herself under the patron- 
age of the most holy Virgin, and promised every 
day to honour her by the recital of certain prayers. 
But levity is attendant on youth ; Candida some- 
times omitted her devotion, until attacked by a 
violent fever, which she considered the punish- 
ment of her fault; she renewed her promise and 
never after failed therein. At the age of fourteen 

* The newly baptized. 



264 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



years, she lost her good mother, to whom she was 
greatly endeared, because of her excellent dis- 
positions, and two years after was espoused to 
a pagan, rich and powerful, named Hiu. She 
disposed herself for this alliance by the sacra- 
ments of Confession and Communion, which should 
never be omitted on such occasions, and which it 
is to be feared many neglect or receive badly. 
The connection was by no means agreeable to 
her, seeing that she was going to become the com- 
panion of a man buried in the darkness of infi- 
delity ; but like another Monica, she soon, by her 
patience and piety, changed him into a second 
Patricius ; he embraced a religion which carried 
its own evidence along with it, by the sovereignty 
it exercises over hearts, and became in his turn 
the supporter of truth. About the same time, 
her great grandfather was converted at the age 
of eighty years, by the zeal of the Colao, which 
filled Candida with joy; she said, she could not 
sufficiently thank God, for having caused her to 
be born of a family in which so many were sealed 
with the glorious character of Christianity. God 
blessed her, marriage by the birth of many chil- 
dren, whom she took care to bring forth anew in 
Jesus Christ at the font of baptism, and to sow 
in their tender minds, the principles of the true 
faith. Two years after his conversion, her hus- 
band died the death of the just, leaving her at 
the age of thirty years charged with the care of 
eight children. She used all her endeavours to 
form them to virtue, and had the happiness of see- 
ing her pains crowned with success. 

The pious Candida, in the protracted period of 
forty-three years which she survived her husband, 
retraced the virtues of those widows whom St. 
Paul eulogises in his epistle. She set no limits 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



265 



save those of charity to her zeal. She became 
the mother of the poor, particularly those gospel 
poor, whom the desire of spreading the knowledge 
of God and his Son Jesus Christ, had caused, to 
cross the seas to bear to the infidels the tidings 
of faith, and the hope of salvation. The Jesuit 
missionaries, who were then the only labourers in 
this part of our Lord's vineyard, having lost by 
the death of her grandfather their most zealous 
protector, she tried to indemnify them as much 
as she was able, not only pressing her father, who 
succeeded to the honours of the Calao, to protect 
the Jesuits, but even labouring with her sisters 
and domestics at embroidery and other works, to 
procure money for their maintenance. She work- 
ed so assiduously, that she amassed considerable 
sums, and was enabled also to relieve thousands 
of poor, and procure for the new christian churches 
and altars, every thing necessary for divine wor- 
ship. 

To devote herself more freely to these good 
works, Candida provided for the management of 
her household, a girl named Rosalia, whom she 
also made the distributor of her private alms, and 
the confidant of her good works. Though other- 
wise very prudent, and discreet, and pious, the 
eccentricities of her character rendered her insup- 
portable to the other servants, so that she gave 
her pious mistress continual occasions of practis- 
ing patience. Witnessing what she suffered, her 
confessors urged Madame Hiu to discharge Rosa- 
lia, but she generously resolved to bear the annoy- 
ance, saying, " Rosalia is exact, faithful, prudent; 
if I dismiss her, who can I commission to the poor, 
who will take care of the missionaries and caie- 
chists? we must bear with her bad temper then; 
it is a cross that our Lord sends me for my sins, 



266 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



happy shall I be, if he receive it in expiation of 
them!" She received in the same spirit, all the 
other sufferings which Providence sent her. 

Her faith was every day more confirmed by 
the prodigies operated to propagate the gospel in 
the Chinese empire. To show how lively it was, 
we cite the following instance. Learning on one 
occasion that the missionaries were reduced to 
such distress, that they no longer possessed com- 
mon necessaries, she flew to her domestic chapel, 
and prostrate at the foot of her crucifix, promised 
to provide for all their wants, and allot for the 
use of each father such sum as would prevent 
their ever again falling into the like necessity. 
She renewed this promise every day, until she 
had the means (£22,000,) of fulfilling it, which she 
sent into the different provinces where the mis- 
sionaries, twenty-five in number, were stationed. 

It would be hard to conceive how she could 
bestow such immense sums without injuring her 
family, had not she herself revealed it in a letter 
to Father Francis Brancati, the superior, to remove 
his delicacy on the matter. It was as follows: 
" Do not think, my father, that I deprive my chil- 
dren of anything by providing for the missionaries. 
ISTo, the means come from another source, from 
the labour of my hands, and those of my maids. 
These thirty years I have applied myself to differ- 
ent sorts of work, by which I gained some thou- 
sand crowns; these I employed in trade by means 
of two of my servants whom you know ; and God 
has so blessed their commerce, that, after enrich- 
ing themselves, they have acquired me sufficient 
means to share with others; so fear no longer, 
Father, that the money I give you is badly acquir- 
ed, or may be part of the revenues of my son's 
office. I would not on any account employ his 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



267 



wealth In supporting the missions, for I am not 
quite sure that the means by which magistrates 
are enriched, are always legitimate. 

This father was for many years the confessor of 
Madam Candida. She introduced him to her 
father, and it was as much by his great influence, 
as by the secret endeavours of his pious daughter, 
that he saw himself able to extend the infant 
Church of China. Lord James Siu procured him 
the friendship of the governors and principal 
mandarins of Nankin, Suchen, Sumkiam, and 
Kam Hai, so that in a short time the man of God 
saw this canton or division possessed of ninety 
churches, forty-five oratories, and three confra- 
ternities, besides those of the Holy Virgin, and 
that of the children, which latter was styled the 
congregation of the angels. The object of one of 
these three confraternities or associations, was to 
honour the mystery of the passion and death of 
our Lord Jesus ; the young girls belonging to 
it assembled every Friday for the purpose of 
meditating thereon, and sanctified their pious 
exercises by vigorous mortifications. The women 
being forbidden to go out by the law of the coun- 
try, practised the same devotions at home. The 
fervour of Madam Candida on these occasions 
was so great, that her confessor was obliged to 
moderate it, and absolutely forbid her these prac- 
tices, because of her great age and infirmity. 
She often complained of this indulgence: "What, 
father," she used to say, " shall I then do nothing 
for God, under the pretence of conserving a use- 
less health, while I know that our missionaries, 
whose life is so precious to the whole empire, 
practise so many austerities, though overwhelmed 
with labours? Father Le Faure, for example, 
passes the night in prayer, and is quite extenaa- 



288 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY 



ted from fasting, and you wish a sinner like me to 
do nothing of the kind." 

The second congregation was of young men 
under the patronage of St. Ignatius. The mem- 
bers assembled the first day in each month, and 
prepared sermons and discourses on the truths of 
faith, on the feasts and mysteries, which having 
pronounced in turn, they were, if approved of by 
the missionaries, sent to preach them th© follow- 
ing Sunday in the churches to which they them- 
selves could not go. The fruits of this associa- 
tion were so much the more advantageous, as the 
Chinese are naturally inclined to compose and 
recite their works. 

But the most useful congregation was that in 
which sixty catechists, under the inspection of 
the fathers and protection of Francis Xavier, 
employed themselves in the instruction of youth 
in the different parishes. These also visited the 
houses of the christians, and rendered a written 
account of the state of each family: as, if they 
had some pictures of our Lord, if they retained 
any of their old superstitions, if some child had 
not been baptised, or if some invalid or aged 
person was in want of the helps of the sacraments. 
As the mother and protectress of these societies, 
Madam Hiu provided for each what they severally 
needed ; she furnished the one with images and 
pictures of the passion of our Lord, and the other 
with books printed at her expense, and the dif- 
ferent symbols by which the mysteries of religion 
are rendered intelligible to or brought under the 
senses, which she caused to be distributed annu- 
ally. On the feast of St. Michel, 29 September, 
in each year, this friend to religion made with all 
possible solemnity, a distribution of premiums to 
the children of both sexes who had been most 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



269 



attentive to catechism, that nothing might be 
omitted which could extend the faith of Christ. 
She persuaded the missionaries to translate dif- 
ferent pious works into the Chinese language, for 
the instruction of the women who, ' as we before 
said, could not attend at the churches, The 
number of these publications amounted to twenty- 
six; Madam Candida distributed them in the 
churches, and made presents of them to all the 
ladies with whom she was acquainted. It is 
impossible to describe the good thus produced by 
these books, the faithful interpreters of the truth, 
finding entrance into the houses of the infidels, 
and of the mandarins and governors, to which 
the missionaries had no access ; they began to 
esteem the doctrine they contained, and the faith 
of the Europeans obtained respect and veneration. 
Having nothing so near her heart as the interests 
of religion, Madam Hiu used all her exertions to 
convert the young spouse of her son, the Lord 
Basil. This woman though endowed with a good 
understanding, was strongly fixed in her false 
belief, the greatest patience, mildness and address, 
was necessary to cure her blindness. She at 
length became the conquest of her pious mother- 
in-law, and, like her, an apostle of the faith, being 
scarcely regenerated in the font of baptism, when 
she converted two of her brothers, and several 
other relatives, as much by her example as by the 
invincible arguments which she used against them. 
She persevered faithfully to the end. God by de- 
grees disengaged the pious widow Candida from all 
human attachments. After the death of her hus- 
band and mother, who were her support and con- 
solation, she lost her father, worthy, by his eminent 
virtues, to belong to this family of elect. She 
suffered greatly in 1657, when eight French mis- 



270 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



sionaries who came to preach the gospel in China, 
fell into the hands of robbers, and were left on the 
high-way covered with wounds. Having received 
them into her house, she afforded them such effi- 
cacious remedies, that in three months they were 
restored to health, and able to accomplish the end 
for which they had left Europe. 

The desire of contributing to the progress of 
the faith, caused her to undertake many long and 
painful journeys. In one province, seeing the 
church very small, and badly situated, she caused 
one to be erected on a most magnificent system. 
In the province of Hu-quam, she purchased the 
house of a mandarin to be converted into a church, 
and had another erected at a suitable distance. 
In Su Chuen she built two churches, and in 
another place she built one and established a 
missionary. It would be tedious to detail all the 
good she performed ; but while the faith of Christ 
was thus progressing in China, a persecution was 
raised by the calumnies of a vile intriguer, whose 
idol was his money. The missionaries were ar- 
rested, some of them were imprisoned, and the 
rest conducted before the tribunals to be examined. 
Their patience, and that of the numerous neo- 
phytes, at length opened the eyes of the ministers 
who governed the kingdom during the minority 
of the new emperor, and the persecution was 
suspended. How many tears did not the suffer- 
ings of the fathers on this occasion cost our 
fervent christian! What did she not sacrifice 
during the six years it continued ! When the 
missionaries were cited to the court, she sent one 
of her brothers with a great sum of money to 
provide them with necessaries on the road, and to 
purchase presents for their guards lest they might 
treat them with the cruelties generally exercised 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



271 



on persons accused of a capital crime. She con- 
tinued her charity towards them during their 
exile, and omitted nothing to obtain their estab- 
lishment. 

The miracles which accelerated it by manifest- 
ing the excellence of Christianity, were perhaps 
procured by her prayers and mortifications. Each 
day she redoubled her zeal and fervour, and 
unceasingly animated the new christians to perse- 
verance, giving them the books most necessary in 
the circumstances. On hearing that her son had 
been deprived of all his dignities for having built 
churches, and been so zealous for the propagation 
of the faith, she told him she envied his lot, and, 
like the mother of the Machabees, added, that 
he was so much the more dear to her, as he had 
been found worthy to suffer for the love of Jesus 
Christ. Soon after the christian faith being in a 
general assembly, declared not to contain any 
thing injurious to the state, the missionaries were 
recalled from exile, and honourably re-established 
in their respective churches, to the great joy of 
all, especially of the fervent christians of seventy 
villages in the vicinity of Xam Hai. These re- 
paired thither to meet the fathers; they filled 
more than forty boats, and sailed up the great 
river Hoampu before them, with instruments of 
music, and gold and silken banners waving in the 
wind, on which was embroidered the holy name of 
Jesus. 

But the pious widow experienced that the calm 
of peace is often more to be feared than the 
storms of persecution. Her son's devotion grew 
cold by degrees, and she saw him lose his zeal for 
the welfare of Christianity. Though it disquieted 
her greatly, she entertained hopes of his amend- 
ment, as she perceived he -was still devout to the 



272 CATHOLIC BJO&BAPIIT. 

Blessed Virgin, and did not omit his usual prayers 
in her honour. About this time she received from 
Rome, as a tribute to her piety, some beads of 
agate ornamented with fiiigrane, and clasped by a 
large medal of solid gold. "Father," said she to 
the missionary who presented it to her, "give 
these beads to my son Basil, without saying I 
have seen it; it will be a means of animating his 
devotion to the mother of God, and increasing his 
affection for you and your brethren." But, alas! 
one excess begets another; Basil, forgetting him- 
self more and more, composed a work capable of 
scandalising the weak. Being informed of this, 
his pious mother, knowing he still respected her 
authority, obliged him to give up every copy of it, 
together with the plates destined to embellish it, 
which cost him a great sum, and sent them to the 
church to be burned to repair the scandal they 
might have occasioned. After this act she tried 
by every means to recal Basil to the way of salva- 
tion, and at length succeeded ; for having invited 
him to the church of our Lady about half a league 
from the city, to hear mass and approach the 
sacraments, he returned perfectly changed, and 
made a general confession with the most lively 
regret, for not remaining faithful to his God. It 
was in this church that the women assembled to 
perform their pious exercises. Madam Hiu was 
the most assiduous in attending there; though 
advanced in years, neither rain, wind, snow, or 
other inconveniences prevented her visiting it. 

Between the province of Nankin and Japan 
lies an island thirty miles in circumference, 
whither the missionaries had never yet penetrated, 
until the good widow prevailed with Father Le 
Faur, since deceased in the odour of sanctity, to 
visit it, furnishing him with all the expenses of 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



273 



the voyage, eVen the presents for the governor 
and mandarins, and the sums necessary for pur- 
chasing a house, and establishing a church, which, 
in a short time, became the parent of six others. 

As this fervent christian advanced in years, her 
zeal became more ardent, and her piety more 
tender. She assisted at Holy Mass with so much 
humility and respect, that she inspired all present 
with devotion. She approached the sacrament 
of penance as often as possible, accompanying 
the confession of her faults with a torrent of 
tears. She unfolded the state of her soul with 
the greatest candour, and penetrated with the 
sentiments proper for the grace of this sacrament. 
It seemed to her at the moment of absolution, 
that, like another Magdalen, at the foot of the 
cross, the blood of Jesus purified her soul from 
all its spots, and cleansed it from all its stains. 
She every night assembled her female servants in 
her apartment to pray, and instructed them in 
our holy faith. Her ingenious charity made her 
adopt the means of procuring baptism for the 
children of many pagans who were perceived in 
danger of death. Having gained the accoucheures, 
she caused them to be instructed in the manner 
of administering private baptism, and engaged 
them never to neglect it in pressing occasions. 
It would be impossible to say how many souls were 
thus indebted to her for their salvation. 

Having learned that absolute want often caused 
mothers to abandon their children after their 
birth, she obtained permission to purchase a house 
for their reception, and procured them nurses. 
The viceroy contributed to this good work, as 
well as the lord Basil, her son, and several others, 
and Candida soon saw herself at the head of a 
numerous family of the little children of Jesus. 
3 18 



274 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



It is usual in China with those poor who have 
lost their sight, to assemble the people in the 
public places, and there exercise the wicked art 
of divination and fortune-telling to procure subsis- 
tence. Madam Hiu, to put an end to this wicked 
practice, lodged several of them in her own house, 
promised them a sufficient maintenance, and 
having caused them to be instructed in the prin- 
ciples of the christian religion, sent them through 
the streets to teach all those who were willing to 
hear them. How ingenious was she not in extend- 
ing the kingdom of our divine Master ! The sacred 
mysteries of his passion were the objects of her 
most profound veneration, and she honoured the 
Blessed Virgin with the most filial confidence. 
To the holy angels, particularly St. Michael, she 
was particularly devout ; St. Joseph, the patron of 
the Chinese missions, St. Ignatius, St. Francis 
Xavier, St. Monica, and St. Ursula and her 11,000 
sister martyrs, were especially dear to her. She 
had their images painted at Macao and Goa, by 
eminent artists, to ornament the church of our 
Lady, and the great church of Xam-Hai, and 
furnished a great part of the money necessary 
for procuring images of the twelve apostles, and 
four doctors of the church as large as life, with 
inscriptions containing the abridged life of these 
holy persons, for the instruction of the faithful. 

According to the custom which the Jesuits 
established in China and elsewhere, Madam Hiu 
every month sent for the billets for herself and 
family, which they distributed. Each billet con- 
tained some sentences of scripture, or the holy 
fathers, with the name of a saint who was to be 
considered for the month, by the person to whom 
he had fallen, as hi^ protector. Madam Hiu 
invoked with great confidence the saint who had 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



275 



fallen to her, and endeavoured to imitate his 
virtues. How productive of good must not this 
practice be ! It is on the respect which children 
owe their parents, that the Chinese have estab- 
lished the foundations of their government, per- 
suaded that so long as children inviolably preserved 
a spirit of submission and obedience to those who 
have begotten them, the whole empire would be 
like a well-regulated family in which peace and 
good order prevail, and hence they omit no testi- 
mony of respect and affection towards them, 
particularly on the anniversary of their birth, 
which they solemnize with great rejoicings. Lord 
Basil acquitted himself of this duty to his good 
mother in the most signal manner, inviting all 
persons of distinction to share in his joy, and 
treating them most magnificently. On one of 
these occasions the emperor, to manifest to the 
holy widow the esteem in which he held her, (for 
true virtue invariably commands respect), sent 
her a most superb dress, and honoured her with 
the title of Chogin, which in our language means 
virtuous woman. To receive it politely, she wore 
it on her birth-day; but soon after, taking off the 
precious jewels with which it was covered, she 
employed them in clothing the poor of Christ, in 
adorning the altars, and in gaining souls to God. 
They could never prevail on her to assist at the 
balls and comedies with which they celebrated her 
birth, though all possible regard was paid to 
modesty on these occasions : she retired to her 
oratory to treat with God in holy prayer during 
the whole time. 

While her wisdom procured her the esteem of 
the great, her charity obtained her the benedictions 
of the poor and necessitous. Her three brothers 
having squandered in a short time the rich inheri- 



276 



ATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



tance bequeathed to them bj their father, this 
good sister provided for their wants, and assisted 
them with eagerness, rejoicing because indigence, 
she hoped, might recall them to the duties of Chris- 
tianity, from which, while in affluence they had 
unhappily strayed. Impatient in their well-merit- 
ed fate, they sometimes complained that their 
wants were not abundantly enough supplied, but 
their prudent benefactress argued that she had 
other brethren in still greater distress, the poor of 
Christ, and that if nature bound her to the former, 
grace, which is a link much more holy, connected 
her with the latter. When her confessor solicited 
her to be more liberal towards her brothers, she 
said, " Father, permit me to say to you on this 
occasion, what you told me our Lord said formerly, 
' Who are my brethren, but those who do the will 
of my Father, who is in heaven V Are not the 
missionaries, who come from the extremities of 
the earth to announce Jesus Christ to us, my 
fathers a,nd brethren ? To them I willingly give 
the fruit of my labour; and I imagine I co-operate 
with them in the great work of the salvation of 
souls, when I help them to live. I cannot think 
how, with such slender resources, you can assist 
such a multitude of christians from whom you 
receive nothing, and also render the magistrates 
favourable to the exercise of your ministry. I 
envy and desire to share in the happiness of 
Martha and Mary, who received our Lord into 
their house, and served him with their hands, 
while he preached to Israel, as you do to China, 
the kingdom of God." 

Having ornamented with magnificent paintings 
the great church of Xam Ha'i, in which assembled 
at the feasts of Christmas and Easter, from 8 
to 9000 christians she resolved to visit it, though 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



277 



none but men were permitted to enter. When 
all was ready, she gave notice to sixty ladies of 
her acquaintance, who, being carried in sedans, 
entered the church and performed their devotions. 
Her fervour on this occasion was worthy of tho 
angels who witnessed it. In beholding the tablets 
of the mysteries of religion which she herself had 
procured, she imagined she traversed in spirit 
the Holy land where these mysteries were accom- 
plished, and satisfied the ardent desire she had to 
visit that sacred place. She learned with delight 
that in this church, and in that of Sum Kiam, 
near 4000 persons were annually baptized, and 
in all China between 14 and 15000. She consi- 
dered these new christians as her children, as they 
truly were in Christ, for they owed to her all the 
spiritual helps they received. It is certain that 
she founded with the fruit of her labours, and all 
she could spare from her patrimony, thirty 
churches in her own country, nine with houses 
for the missionaries in other provinces, and that 
there was scarcely a chapel, an oratory, a mission, 
or a congregation, which was not indebted to her 
for something. 

Her zeal for the relief of the souls in Purgatory, 
equalled that for the conversion of infidels ; she 
buried the dead, provided for the funerals of indi- 
gent christians, caused masses to be celebrated 
for their eternal repose, and when sending alms 
to the poor, demanded prayers for the relief of 
their deceased brethren in return. Perhaps it 
was to recompense her piety in this particular, 
that God permitted her to see in sleep her hus- 
band, and one of her children, lately deceased, 
who assured her of their salvation, through the 
great mercy of God : this incident increased her 
fervour. Her dreams and sleep were for her so 



278 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



many commnications with God. Sometimes she 
saw Jesus Christ extending his hands to her, as if 
to animate her to continue her pious benefactions; 
sometimes she saw the blessed Virgin, who, with 
her divine Son, promised her protection ; or again, 
she beheld the souls of the little innocents, for 
whom she had procured the grace of baptism, and 
who seemed to thank her for the inestimable gift. 

Enriched with so many good works, and ever 
occupied w T ith the salutary thought of death, 
Madame Hiu herself disposed all that was neces- 
sary for her funeral, but her soul was as it should 
be, the principal object of her care. Having sent 
for one of the fathers, who having finished his mis- 
sion, was about to leave Sum Kiam, she told him 
that she thought her death near. He not perceiv- 
ing any danger, was about to depart, until she 
said, ''Father, wait till Thursday, you can set out 
then." It was on this clay she knew our Lord 
would call her to himself. After having recom- 
mended the great cause of Christianity to her 
daughter-in-law, who inherited her own zeal, 
thanked her son Basil for his care of the temples 
of the Lord, conjured him if he loved her, and 
wished to see her one day in heaven, to persevere 
in piety, and be a father to the christians, and 
provided for the spiritual and temporal wants of 
her friends, she received the holy Viaticum and 
Extreme Unction with great piety. Accustomed 
every day to make the sacrifice of her life to 
God, she saw the moment of dissolution approach 
with joy, because it was to be the commencement 
of an eternal union with Him. Her death oc- 
curred on the 24th of October, the feast of the 
archangel Raphael, 1680, about mid-day, and with 
incredible consolation. It is said our Lord and 
his holy angels appeared inviting her to heaven. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



279 



Her family, and, in fact, the whole city was in- 
consolable for her loss ; the poor wept for her as 
their mother, the rich as their model, and the 
missionaries as a most efficient coadjutrice in the 
propagation of the faith, 

Christians of the nineteenth century, cradled 
in the true Church, educated in the true faith, 
let us compare our lives with that of this gene- 
rous neophyte; the contrast is as glorious for her 
as it is humiliating for us. And yet are ive not 
infinitely more indebted to God than she, and at 
least why not serve him with equal fidelity? Are 
we christians at all ? frightful question, but one 
which Bourdalone put to the Christians of his 
day. "Are we, or are we not Christians?" said this 
great man. "If we are not, why affect the name? 
If we are, why not practise the works? It is a 
monstrous contradiction, an odious hypocrisy, to 
be a christian in belief and a pagan in practice." 



281 



PETES BACHELIER DE GENTES, 

GENTLEMAN. 



Peter Bachelier de Gentes was born at Rheims, 
the 17th of June 1611, of parents more estimable 
for their virtues than exalted rank, who entirely 
devoted themselves to the education of their chil- 
dren. Peter, their eldest son, was the object of 
their sweetest hopes ; by his good dispositions he 
seemed from his cradle to be prevented by grace, 
and the beauty of his person lent to his innocence 
a new degree of interest. But, alas ! how fragile 
is man! how soon does his heart become the prey 
of vanity and deceit ! Peter had scarcely finished 
his studies, than he became by his sportive dispo- 
sitions and agreeable turn of mind, the life and 
soul of all public assemblies, in which he appear- 
ed arrayed in all the gee-gaw ornaments of the 
day. However, he never lost his innocence, not- 
withstanding the inutility of his life, and the 
round of fashionable folly in which he spent his 
time. This is singular indeed, and could scarcely 
obtain credence if we were not assured of his de- 
votion to the blessed Virgin. He had consecrated 
himself to her service in his infancy, and at the cli- 
max of his folly, he never spent a day without 
paying her the tribute of his love, and invoking 
her as his mother, and she never forsook him. 

Always the prey of vanity, his capital sin, he 
determined to increase his store of those frivolous 
or real advantages which caused him to be sought 
after by the votaries of the world, by travelling 



282 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



through the inland parts of France, and passing 
theitce into Italy. Visiting, at Beyers, one of his 
relatives, whose virtues were celebrated by the 
whole country, but who had once been a woman 
of the world, Peter received together with a 
warm reception, a most eloquent, though mute 
advice from her, and saw in her holy and penitent 
life, what he himself should do to escape the 
gna wings of remorse. But the moment of grace 
was not come; and for the nresent he contented 
himself with admiring what he had not courage 
to imitate. On entering Rome, the capital of the 
christian world, he met a humiliation which 
ought to have been salutary to him. Mounted 
on a superb courser, he thought to catch every 
eye as he passed along; but the animal being 
frightened, threw him off into a heap of dirt from 
which he could scarcely rise. During the year 
he spent in Rome, he sought out every object 
that it presents interesting to strangers. Though 
still a worldling, his horror for every thing 
opposed to the virtue of purity, sometimes carried 
him beyond the limits of prudence. One day, 
while sauntering through one of the Roman 
gardens, a magnificent, but indelicate statue 
caught his eye, whereupon, instead of restraining 
his just indignation, he instantly seized the 
master-piece of art, and flung it into the Tiber. 

On returning to Rheims in 1665, he still continu- 
ed his usual course of folly and amusement. To 
what excesses was not a spirit so opposed to that of 
the gospel, capable of conducting him! But always 
admirable in his ways, the God of the Magdalens 
and Augustines, empoisoned with so many inquie- 
tudes his pleasures and diversions, that by degrees 
the illusion was dissipated, and Peter insensibly 
came to the resolution of renouncing them. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



283 



But prudence did not direct his measures to- 
wards conversion, and extremes are always to be 
feared ; the Spirit of God never carries to excessive 
fervour. Peter spent eight months in almost 
perfect seclusion, never going out, except to the 
church, and devoting his days to meditation and 
rigorous examens. Who would not have expected 
his perfect change? but he carried things too far, 
and soon the world regained its ascendant, and 
the solitary plunged anew into the frightful whirl- 
pool. A remedy still remained, and the "God 
who wills not the death of a sinner" employed it 
with success; a long and painful illness brought 
Peter to himself, and operated his entire conver- 
sion. Then much less occupied with his corporal 
pains than his spiritual miseries, he deplored 
bitterly his fatal delays, and the scandals he had 
given, and took a solid resolution which he never 
after belied. 

His first act was a general confession, made 
with the sincerest regret. God tried him for a 
long time by interior pains, in which he found no 
consolation, save from his desire of atoning for 
his sins. Nothing was painful or humiliating in 
ais eyes; the recollection of the unhappy days 
which he had sacrificed to human respect were in- 
cessantly present to his mind, he undertook to van- 
quish it in his turn, making an act of reparation 
before a cross, set up in one of the most public 
quarters of Rheims, and conjuring his companions 
in the broad way, whenever he met them, to for- 
get his errors, and help him to obtain their pardon. 

From his conversion till his death, he honoured 
with special devotion the penitents of the old and 
new covenant, and, like them, treated his body as 
a rebel to which he only wished to leave the 
capacity of suffering, His penances are more to 



284 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



be admired than imitated. God is wonderful in 
his saints, he conducts some by extraordinary 
ways : of this number was Peter. He never eat 
till eight o'clock at night, and often his sole re- 
past consisted of bread and water. His clothes 
were the same in excessive heats as in rigorous 
colds; his austerities were beyond number; no- 
thing stifled his compunction, and his sorrow for 
his past conduct was so profound, that he was 
almost always bathed in tears. 

Being a long time annoyed by thoughts of 
despair, he had recourse to God, and came off 
with victory, but not without fearing he had 
yielded partially to them, which greatly increased 
his pains. A person of merit having one day 
testified to him her desire of advancing in virtue 
by the most secure way, that of penance and mor- 
tification, added that she was ignorant of the con- 
duct she should observe therein. "Hold yourself 
in readiness,'' said he, "to do the will of God. 
The first thing he requires, is a disposition to 
conform to his good pleasure ; this will be followed 
by crosses, as the reward of your fidelity, and 
without your going out of the way to seek them. 
To be worthy of the cross, we must love suffer- 
ings ; one cross attracts another, as the good use 
of one grace merits a second." 

He afterwards avowed that God had drawn 
him, since his conversion, through a path strewed 
with crosses, that during fourteen years he had 
suffered such pains, that to support them he 
needed all the helps of grace, and. in fine, that he 
had never better understood the enormity of his 
sins, than by the justice God exercised upon his 
person: "It could only be," said he, "an essay 
of the pains of hell." 

Peter cherished and served the poor as the 



CATHOLIC BIOGEAPHY. 



285 



favourites of Heaven, and never omitted to unite 
spiritual succours with his corporal alms. There 
was not a poor family in the city of Rheims, which 
did not recognize him as its benefactor; he gave 
preference to the most miserable and unfortunate. 
One day that his sufferings confined him to bed, so 
that he was unable to visit the sick poor, he said to 
one of his friends who compassionated his pains, 
"You are too careful of a miserable sinner like 
me; nothing is omitted to procure my recovery, 
while my brethren the poor, particularly among 
the peasantry, are left a prey to hunger and 
distress, forsaken and neglected by all; what 
shall I say to God when he demands an account 
of the goods conferred on me, if I alleviate not the 
sufferings of His poor V On hearing of the famine 
which then ravaged Lorraine, he would have gone 
in person to relieve the inhabitants, but for the 
bad state of his health. The recollection of the 
wants of the poor often made him rise from table 
almost as soon as he had begun his repast, with 
his eyes bathed in tears ; he deprived himself in 
their behalf of the most necessary things, he only 
saw their sufferings, he only felt their evils. One 
day, carrying a poor invalid to the Hotel Dieu, he 
fell and was severely hurt, but rising promptly, 
he again took up his precious burden, and carried 
it to its destination. To visit the hospitals was 
his dearest occupation; but he flew to every spot 
where he could vent the holy fire of charity which 
burned within him. Thus he traversed the dif- 
ferent villages of Champagne when desolated by 
the epidemic. In one of his charitable excursions, 
haying learned that the inhabitants of a hamlet 
were dangerously ill, and deprived of all help, he 
went immediately to their relief ; and it was with 
great difficulty he obtained entrance. 



286 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Not having eaten anything for three days, the 
poor creatures were in the last necessity, and 
scarcely able to answer him; but he procured 
them succours of every kind, and soon restored 
them. No good work was superior to his zeal 
and charity ; he was often seen carrying off from 
the field of battle the wounded soldiers in whom 
there yet remained a breath of life, and bestowing 
on them the most tender cares. Self-love never 
lessened the merit of the good works of this pious 
man. His humility was so perfect, that he re- 
ceived insults as joyfully as worldlings accept 
praise. His most ardent desire was to be forgot- 
ten and despised. Since his conversion a single 
trait of self-love or human respect could not be 
discovered in his conduct. A greater detachment 
from creatures than he possessed, could scarcely be 
imagined. As he saw all in God, no event, how- 
ever unforeseen, disturbed the peace of his soul. 
He every day advanced in the way of perfection, 
every day became more recollected, and increased 
in that interior spirit which is for those who pos- 
sess it, an anticipation of the delights of heaven. 
In vain was he solicited to feasts and entertain- 
ments ; he invariably refused to go. If it was 
insinuated that his presence would excite the 
guests to salutary reflections, he would say, " It is 
not at a table deliciously served we can expect to 
benefit souls. They can hardly be gained in the 
temples of the Lord, and you hope to effect it in 
the assemblies from whence penance and often 
temperance is totally banished. The inspired 
writer then deceives us when he says, "it is better to 
go to a house of tears than to a house of joy " If you 
seek to be edified and instructed, go to the houses 
and places where God is spoken of, where penance 
and other virtues are exercised; for my part, I 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



287 



could not resolve to go where I could not hope to 
edify any, and where, perhaps, I myself might be 
exposed to scandal.' ' 

Whatever did not tend to enkindle in his heart, 
or that of others, the bright flame of the love of 
God, was perfectly indifferent to him. He only 
desired to speak of God, or hear him spoken of. 
He was assiduous in attending, even several times 
in the day, at the instructions which were given in 
the different churches ; if any one testified their 
surprise thereat, he said, "What ! do you not 
take food several times in the day to preserve the 
health of the body? Is it easier to conserve that of 
the soul?" Guided by the same views, he fre- 
quently read the holy scripture on bended knees. 
Desirous to penetrate himself with the unction dis- 
tilled by the inspired writings, and justly incensed 
against the fatal prejudice of the partisans of tho 
world, that the present is an age in which the 
study of religion may be abandoned, he made their 
perusal his frequent occupation; hence his argu- 
ments were most convincing when he undertook 
its defence. His virtues gained him such an 
ascendant, that he was successful in enterprises 
which seemed most difficult, as that of arresting 
public amusements contrary to the purity of 
morals, and changing them into religious assem- 
blies, in which the divine praises succeeded pro- 
fane and indecent songs. 

Though his life was spent in visiting the pri- 
sons and hospitals, it can still be termed a life of 
prayer. Besides the uninterrupted recollection 
which rather seemed to entertain than interrupt 
the course of his good works, he gave several 
hours of the day and night to prayer; in which 
moments, always too short for his fervour, his 
divine Master recompensed, with the magnificence 



288 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



of a God, the fidelity of his servant. A single 
verse of the psalms sufficed generally to fill his 
mind with salutary thoughts, and his heart with 
the most ardent affections. A life so holy merited 
for him a happy death; the moment of recom- 
pense arrived, it was announced by a painful 
illness. He at once received the sacrament of 
penance; but, like the centurion, esteeming him- 
self unworthy that our Lord should visit his house, 
he attended at the church, notwithstanding his 
extreme weakness, to receive the holy viaticum. 
After a long and fervent thanksgiving, he returned 
home, and during the eight days he survived, he 
seemed to be no longer of the world. A few 
minutes before he expired, one of his friends 
having intimated to* him that the current day 
was the feast of St. Monica, and that the bene- 
diction of the holy sacrament was about to take 
place in the Augustinian chapel, he said, " I 
shall try to be there in spirit, and I hope in 
the goodness of God, and the prayers of those 
who are present, I shall receive part of the graces 
attached to this holy rite,'" and almost imme- 
diately he expired, 4th May, 1672, aged 61 years. 
His death was considered a real calamity. May 
my soul die the death of the just. 

A PRAYER TO THE B V. MARY. 

0 Holy Virgin, you are my good mother, and by 
excellence, the mother of pure love. You have 
obtained for me many graces during the course of 
my life ; be pleased to obtain one favour more 
which will crown all the rest, that is, to love my 
God; to love Him ardently, to love Him purely, to 
love Him, constantly as long as I shall remain on 
earth, that I may have the happines to love Him 
eternally with you in heaven. Amen. 



289 



GEORGE THROCKMORTON, 

GENTLEMAN. 



George Throckmorton was born 18th April, 
1670, in Herefordshire, of an ancient noble family. 
Endowed with those qualities of body and mind, 
which can render a person agreeable to the world, 
he hastened to open his heart to enjoyment, and 
swallow down with avidity the empoisoned cup of 
pleasure. Intoxicated with its deceitful sweets, 
he endeavoured to gratify his passions, not reflect- 
ing on the struggles it would afterwards cost him 
to restrain their violence. 

Wishing to preserve him from the dangers to 
which his faith and morals were exposed in his 
own country, his parents sent him to one of those 
respectable colleges in France, where he should 
be furnished with abundant means of overcoming 
his vicious inclinations. Such was the object of 
his pious preceptors ; but he corresponded badly 
with their intentions; he insensibly let himself be 
carried away by his natural vivacity and passion 
for pleasure, and became light, inconstant, an 
enemy of labour, and averse to application. His 
high birth and advantages, mental and corporal, 
rendered him vain, presumptuous, and indocile. 

With such dispositions what could he acquire 
at college, save a slight tincture of the belles 
lettres, and a superficial knowledge of religion? 

19 



290 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



This even was the fruit of a servile fear of his 
masters, a forced obedience to his mother, or a 
vain fear to pass for a man totally unlearned. 
After some years he left college, and with such a 
conceit of his learning, that he supposed himself 
above all instruction, and capable of being his 
own master. He was delighted to regain his long 
desired liberty, and applied himself so ardently 
to become a man of fashion, that he but too hap- 
pily succeeded in the frivolous study. Dancing, 
the sword exercise, and the other academic 
sciences were his delight, and he soon attained 
perfection in them. The most distinguished 
assemblies, balls, plays, operas, the chase, the 
card-table, became his delight and constant occu- 
pation. Sensual in the choice of viands, magni- 
ficent in dress, vain in equipage, he endeavoured 
to supersede in elegance the young nobility. He 
left in all places through which he passed, the 
reputation of his ridiculous vanity, particularly 
at Paris and London, where he most desired to 
make a figure, and to satisfy more perfectly his 
criminal passions. Always in movement from 
one of these metropolis's to the other, he obtained 
the character of the most refined and accomplish- 
ed gentleman in every respect. He flattered 
himself that this general suffrage would advance 
his fortune, which, as being a younger son, did 
not correspond w T ith his ambition; he was 
artful enough to avoid what might oppose his 
projects, and shunned all inferior society. The 
young worldling lived till his 27th year, forgetting, 
nay, flying from the thought of an omnipotent 
God; he feared reflection, and sought to drown it 
in gay circles and festive entertainments. If he 
was obliged to visit his friends in the country, 
although he met there a variety of amusements, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



291 



he felt quiet gloomy and dissatisfied, and tasted 
no pleasure until the moment his passions fur- 
nished some pretext to return to the city: he 
was there as in his element. 

Amid these wanderings he remained firm in 
the true faith, Divine Providence did not suffer 
him to perish in the violent storms to which he 
exposed himself, thus preserving the foundation 
of the edifice of christian perfection, which he was 
afterwards to raise. But alas ! what a faith was 
that of young Throckmorton in these days of dark- 
ness ! a faith without life, without works, without 
merits. He went from time to time to the divine 
offices, but as to a profane assembly to see and be 
seen — not to appease the divine majesty, but to 
satisfy his pride and curiosity, and to provoke the 
divine wrath by lightness and disrespect. The 
cry of conscience led him to the sacred tribunal 
of penance, but it was generally for custom's sake, 
and never followed by any generous exertion; ifc 
would require too great a sacrifice to cease to 
serve the world, and to renounce his passion for its 
esteem and admiration. His conduct greatly 
afflicted his pious family, his sisters were incon- 
solable to see a dear brother follow so dangerous 
a course, and spared neither tears, nor prayers, 
nor exhortations, to lead him to his duty. 

But all, reunited with their edifying example, 
was lost upon him; their hope now rested in 
humble petitions to the throne of grace, in which 
they were seconded by some pious friends, and to 
the efficacy of which may be ascribed his conver- 
sion, But by what immediate cause was this 
change operated? In his disorders he deferred 
his entire conversion under the rash presumption 
that nothing more was necessary than to receive 
absolution from time to time, after a cursory 



292 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



examen and a few passing acts of contrition read 
in some prayer-book, before he presented him- 
self to the priest; and then the priest he selected 
was he who asked him fewest questions, who pre- 
scribed him easiest remedies, and who imposed 
the lightest penance. As to those clergymen, 
who, wise and prudent in their ministry, fear to 
" give what is holy to dogs," to present impure 
souls with holy things, men who require works 
before they believe promises often belied — these 
he avoided as fanatics, as persons who made the 
road to heaven too difficult for folk of his age 
and quality. 

A conversation with one of his sisters was the 
first step to his conversion. Tired in pursuing 
the way which leads to death, pursued by the re- 
morses of his conscience, he told her one day, he 
would soon go to confession to unburden his con- 
science of a heavy load, the weight of which he 
could no longer bear. This promise reanimated 
her expiring hope; but the delay he put to its 
execution lessened her joy. He said, he would leave 
England to reform his conduct, but that he was 
resolved to figure once more at the court in Fon- 
tainbleau, with his magnificent equipage and 
splendid train. Alarmed at such a resolution, 
this sister represented to him the danger of delay- 
ing in such a state, adding, that it was presump- 
tuous to expose the good desires with which he 
was now inspired, to such strong temptations as 
those he was sure of meeting on a theatre as 
dangerous as it was brilliant. But his vanity 
rendered her remonstrances vain ; he went to 
France, leaving her in grief to expect his return. 
A sinner who thus sported with divine mercy 
merited chastisement ; he met his fate. One day 
that he expected to join the Dauphin in the chase, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



293 



his horse became so furious that it was impossible 
to govern him. The animal ran off with him 
towards the railing of the chateau; the spectators 
expected every moment to see both perish, but 
the rider was only thrown off and wounded, but 
not mortally. Who would not have recognised 
here the protection of the Most High, but our 
young gentleman scarcely paid any attention to 
it. After carelessly avowing he was rescued by 
God, he went home, receiving the compliments of 
his friends, who nourished his puerile vanity by 
saying, they wondered how he escaped so great a 
danger. But this was not the only warning he 
received from Heaven. When the camp was 
before Compiegne, and the glory of the world dis- 
played there in all its brilliancy, in a fit of intoxi- 
cation he formed the resolution of crossing on 
horseback a very deep pool. The animal "resisted 
all his efforts to make him enter the water ; in 
vain did he apply the spur, he remained immove- 
able at the brink, until his domestics, apprised of 
his frenzy, reached the spot, and having caused 
him to dismount, brought him home and carried 
him to bed, until he recovered the use of reason 
by a sound sleep. Strange ingratitude! this 
event made less impression on him than the pre- 
ceding — he was then at the summit of his folly. 

From Fontainbleau he returned to Paris, where 
hemethis pious sister, who expressed to him her an- 
guish on the dangers which he ran, and conjured him 
no longer to brave the divine mercy. He seemed 
shaken anew, and promised a change of life, but 
which he only beheld at a more distant period. 
Nevertheless, he made some steps towards an 
amendment, but they were insufficient ; he per- 
sisted in believing it would cost him little to make 
his peace with heaven. His sister zealously com* 



294 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



bated his error, that it was only necessary to 
confess his sins, and resolve to avoid great crimes, 
and proved to him he should satisfy for past sins 
by penance, and adopt measures to prevent re- 
lapses. The young worldling, on the contrary, 
said that in avoiding mortal sin, as he was re- 
solved to do, he could continue his amusements. 
* He consented to renounce all that appeared crimi- 
nal to him in a worldly life, but not to abandon 
what it had of vain and agreeable. She opposed 
his criminal reserve ; he obstinately resisted her 
reasoning ; sometimes he warmly said, she pushed 
matters too far, and would only render him scru- 
pulous. But her excellent advice, the good books 
she put in his hands, the secret conviction that he 
defended a bad cause, incessantly pursued him. 
Still he yielded not entirely to grace, till several 
months after his confession. He avoided great 
crimes, and tried to persuade himself he was out 
of danger, but in vain ; a secret voice refuted all 
the arguments by which he wished to cairn his 
terrors. In these dispositions he returned to Eng- 
land, where God permitted he should meet 
some pious persons who were as instructed of his 
irresolution as of his former extravagance; these 
resolved to second divine grace as much as pos- 
sible in the total conquest of his half-vanquished 
soul. They represented to him all the truths 
which had hitherto impressed him, argued his 
errors with charity and zeal, and prayed so fer- 
vently for him, that he felt now so convinced of 
the necessity of penance and mortification in 
order to a christian life, that he laid down his 
arms, and sincerely returned to God. He took 
for his rule these two maxims of St. Gregory, 
that it is necessary to cure contraries by contra- 
ries, and to punish the indulgence of unlawful 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



295 



pleasures by the privation of permitted ones, and 
conformed to them so exactly, that he was aston- 
ished afterwards how his body and soul could 
bear such violence as he imposed on them. 

Indeed, his situation at home was particularly 
embarrassing, he could neither procure place nor 
leisure to meditate on the truths of religion, nor 
have access to a confessor who would guide him 
by his salutary advice. The more earnestly he 
desired these means of salvation, the more diffi- 
culty he found in attaining them. The friendship 
of his relations, the visits of his friends, deprived 
him of the succours necessary for one newly con- 
verted. Often, after having been annoyed during 
the day by their attentions, from which he could 
not withdraw, he spent the night in performing 
the pious exercises he had imposed upon himself, 
or he could not taste repose so long as they 
remained incomplete. Penetrated with a fear of 
the divine judgments, struck with the recollection 
of the punishments merited by his sins, tortured 
by the fear of relapse, it is impossible to describe 
the sacrifices he made, the violence he did himself 
to subdue his passions, and satisfy divine justice. 
A courageous, but inexperienced soldier, he at- 
tacked his enemies with fury, not knowing how to 
serve himself of his arms. Continual lectures 
made so strong an impression on him, that he 
wished to practise all, to embrace each advice 
that he received, and which to him seemed appli- 
cable to his evils. This disposition, joined to the 
excessive fears which his imagination inspired, so 
disordered him, that he delivered himself to many 
indiscreet practices, and thereby injured his 
health. 

A spitting of blood came on, which alarmed 
his relations, they despaired of his life ; his state 



296 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



became so languishing, that all his friends could 
supply, or his physicians effect, were insufficient 
to his cure. Not knowing the real causes of his 
evil, they could not remedy it. The innocent 
diversion in which they would have him share, 
and the remedies prescribed by the physicians, 
increased his pain, since they deprived him of an 
opportunity of wholly delivering himself to pen- 
ance. After a long time thus spent, persuaded 
that a journey to France would free him from all 
restraint, in point of mortification, he endeavoured 
to procure the consent of his friends ; but they 
would not hear of it. They represented to him 
that he carried things to extremity, that an ordi- 
nary penance sufficed, for he had only acted like 
many young persons of his age and quality. 

This reasoning tormented him more, he feared 
by listening to it that he might insensibly lose 
the horror of sin, and he felt annoyed to see them 
so badly instructed in the necessity of penance. 
As his malady increased, they were constrained to 
let him go, hoping that the change of air would 
effect his recovery; but his only object was the 
cure of his soul. 

At first he intended to go to Montpellier, but 
finding himself better at Paris, he there fixed his 
residence. He had many other motives for doing 
so ; his friendship for his sister Anne, who had 
taken such part in his conversion, the solemnity 
with which religion was carried on in the capital, 
as well as the desire of doing public penance 
where he had given public scandal. Providence 
no doubt wished to give us in his person a perfect 
model of a sincere conversion, particularly in favour 
of those young people who, sent from the provinces 
to the capital to finish their education, often 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



297 



become the victims of the world and its follies 
for time and eternity. 

The fruits of penance being according to the 
scripture and holy fathers, prayer, fasting, and 
alms, they were most evident in George Throck- 
morton. As all things are granted to prayer, 
as it is the key of heaven, and the shortest way 
to obtain all favours from God, our generous 
penitent never thought he devoted sufficient time 
to it. In order to dispose himself for its better 
performance, he not only denied himself frivolous 
discourses, useless visits, and innocent amuse- 
ments, but he filled every leisure moment by spi- 
ritual reading, particularly the Holy Scriptures; 
thus he freed himself from many distractions 
which make the torment of christians. If he was 
sometimes troubled by them, he only made use of 
them to practise patience and humility. If de- 
prived of the divine sweetnesses with which his 
soul generally overflowed, and that God seemed 
deaf to his prayer, he was not discouraged, but 
redoubled his pious ardour and importunity, 
acknowledging himself unworthy of even appear- 
ing before God. 

Unlike some who go to prayer to seek the con- 
solations of God, rather than the God of consola- 
tion, he was indifferent whether he was comforted 
or rejected, the will of God, he knew, was the 
only solid food of his soul. He detested the pride 
of those devotees, who seek always to be admitted 
to the cabinet of the prince ; he considered it a 
great honour to be admitted as a poor beggar into 
his master's presence. It is true, he was often 
heartily welcomed, but never did he imagine him- 
self worthy the divine favour. 

No person could behave more edlfyingiy in the 
church than our pious penitent, it was quite 



298 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



enough to behold him praying to desire his senti- 
ments. His recollection and fervour were a con- 
tinual reproach to those who seemed to enter the 
holy place only to outrage Him, who with so much 
hype and mercy resides therein, and an affecting les- 
son for those who there feel cold and indifferent. 

While in England, being deprived in conse- 
quence of the change of religion of the holy Sacri- 
fice, and the offices of the church, he endeavoured 
to make up for it by particular devotions, but 
these he found not so advantageous to his soul, 
perhaps from a servile attachment to them, or a 
too great confidence in his own exertions, which 
greatly retarded his progress in perfection. In 
France he got rid of this hinderance; he united 
there with all the faithful, flattering himself that 
their fervour would compensate for his indifference. 
He daily recited part of the canonical office, 
honoured all places of devotion, particularly his 
parish church, and never embraced particular 
devotions, until he had fulfilled, essential duties. 
He frequented the different churches on their 
peculiar feasts, to share in the fruits of these holy 
solemnities : in other moments free from works 
of charity, he retired to his chamber, banished 
all terrestrial thoughts, and nourished his soul 
with pious reading, or meditation on holy things. 

By this continual application to God, his mind 
was seldom turned away from him. His heart 
was entirely devoted to the will of this Supreme 
Being, he submitted to it invariably as the rule 
of all holiness; his thoughts, words, and actions 
were squared by it, so that the most troublesome 
events or accidents could not disturb his peace. 

It was by fasting and alms his soul was enabled 
thus to unite itself so closely to God in holy 
prayer; but how shall we detail the perfection 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



299 



with which he practised the former ! Modern 
Christians would no doubt condemn his excessive 
rigours, for we fear to approve in others what we 
know censures our own conduct : however, let us 
hazard the detail of them. The mind of our 
joung Englishman, being deeply impressed with 
this of the apostle, a true penitent should render 
his members, which have been enslaved to sin, the 
instruments of penance, he not only interdicted 
his senses what was sinful or dangerous, but even 
those things which were lawful. He closed his 
eyes to the curiosities of nature and art, his ears 
to agreeable conversation, interesting accounts, 
news, and the like. If he heard of great events 
in church or state, which struck the world with 
amaze and turned men from serious reflection, he 
adored the decrees of Providence, and entered into 
its sacred designs. He refused his taste 9,11 that 
could flatter it, and punished it by the use of the 
most insipid meats. He never took food but as a 
remedy, and adroitly infused therein some secret 
bitter ; thus he obtained over this sense a complete 
victory, so that he could put it to the extraordi- 
nary trials of some eminent saints. He mortified 
his smell by frequenting prisons and hospitals, 
and serving the poor in their wretched and often 
noisome habitations; in fine, all that afflicted 
nature was his delight, and he therein sought 
consolation. He accustomed himself to extreme 
heats and rigorous cold, to watchings and fatigues 
of all species. His confessor's interposition was 
necessary in order to moderate his excess, His 
numerous infirmities, occasioned perhaps by some 
indiscretion in the commencement of his conver- 
sion, contributed to the perfection of his sacrifice; 
he reckoned his pains and maladies more valuable 
than all voluntary privations ; persuaded that the 



300 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



choice of God should be preferred to ours. He 
was far from thinking that he adequately satisfied 
divine justice, and he was equally remote from 
esteeming exterior penance unaccompanied by the 
mortification of the passions and inclinations, the 
powers, and whole interior man. Determined to 
regulate this, he scrupulously watched over the 
movements of his heart to repress pride, vanity, a 
desire of being distinguished, secret preference of 
himself, self-love, humour, sadness, curiosity, 
chagrin, inconstancy, too great ardour for good 
works, attachment to his own opinion, an inclina- 
tion to censure others, which so often transforms 
many austere devotees into true Pharisees. 

He so happily succeeded in surmounting every 
irregular movement, that soon his sweetness, hu- 
mility, cheerfulness, and charity, charmed all. 
Modest and affable, he rendered devotion agree- 
able to those who were most prevented against it. 
There was none of that acrid humour, wild impetu- 
osity, too human affection, or weak inconstancy, 
which so often discredits devotion, to be discovered 
in him ; on the contrary, he suffered all from 
ethers without ever giving them cause of chagrin 
or discontent. "Whatever he suffered he had 
always the same cheerful countenance, unlike 
many, who mortify others while they are mortified 
themselves. If he fasted, lie was cheerful; if 
tempted, he was resigned; if his regular duties 
were intruded upon, if he could not do what he 
had determined, he freely accepted and suffered 
all. If surprised in a fault, (for who, while clothed 
with human nature, is exempt from them?) he 
instantly rose, not dejected like many who cannot 
bear to see themselves imperfect, but with sorrow 
for his sins, and confidence in the divine grace, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



301 



he resolved to walk more cautiously in future. 
Thus his faults contributed to his sanctification. 

George loved the poor ; not content with being 
their friend, he made himself their servant, con- 
sidering it a great honour. To relieve them more 
bountifully, he retrenched all superfluity in clo- 
thing, &c. The time that was not spent in prayer, 
was spent in visiting them. While he lived at the 
house of the Christian Doctrine at Paris, he regu- 
larly visited the prisons with one of the fathers, 
opening, by his gifts, the hearts of the unfortunate 
inmates, that they might be disposed to the more 
excellent one of the word of God. 

He was accustomed to lend money to poor 
families, whether to spare them the shame of 
begging, or to encourage them to industry, or to 
preserve himself from that secret vanity which a 
gratuitous liberality often creates in the heart. 
But these loans were generally a pure gift ; all 
that was due to him in this way, (and the sum 
was considerable), he forgave when dying, hoping 
that his debts would be forgiven in heaven. He 
charged a pious person to seek out the greatest 
objects of charity, then he visited and relieved 
them, and it would be hard to describe the occa- 
sions of abnegation he met in these visits. His 
manners towards the poor were most kind, so that 
they produced more good in them than all the 
relief he bestowed. Their spiritual wants claimed 
the greatest share of his attention ; his custom 
was to entertain them with pious discourse, to 
give them g^bd advice, and to prevail on them to 
pray with him for christian patience. His love 
for them was 'strong as death,' since he required 
to be interred among them, that, as he said, he 
might appear before the bar in company with his 
advocates, and thus gain his cause. Rendering 



302 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



his penance so complete, he approached frequently, 
and with as much respect as love, to the Holy 
Communion, gathering abundantly the sacred 
fruits of this sacred banquet, which were for him 
a great spirit of prayer, zeal for penance and 
mortification, and love of the poor. 

After having thus lived three years and a half, 
lie was seized with a dangerous illness which soon 
announced itself mortal. He was not surprised 
nor alarmed, for a long time he had regarded 
each day as his last ; in the morning he did not 
flatter himself to live till night, nor in the night 
did he promise himself to live till morning. Hav- 
ing quitted all by voluntary privations, he had no 
sacrifice to make. He edified all by his patience 
and obedience ; he every day recited the divine 
office till the eve of his death, and continued his 
ordinary lectures. He sometimes regretted not 
feeling in his devotions that vivacity and great 
light which he used in health, but the privation 
only humbled him in his own eyes. Still the 
divine Spouse treated him with predilection ; he 
experienced no fears, enjoyed the use of his 
faculties till his last moments, and received the 
Holy Sacraments with great devotion. Towards 
his end, his union with God appeared so perfect, 
that a person who attended him perceived there 
was no need of suggesting to him acts of devotion. 
One day he told them only to join him in prayer, 
which he had no sooner finished, than he rendered 
his soul into the hands of his Creator, leaving all 
convinced that God never rejects a true penitent, 
or despises an humble and contrite heart. To 
Him be glory, and the empire of all things, for 
ever and ever. Amen. 



303 

LIFE OF THE GOOD HENRY, 

THE PIOUS SHOEMAKER. 

Henry Michael Buche, commonly called the 
Good Henry, was born towards the close of the 
sixteenth century, in the little village of Erlon in 
the duchy of Luxembourg. His parents were poor 
illiterate persons who lived by the labour of their 
hands ; but they were good christians, and not 
being able to give their son an education, they 
strove to instruct him in the principles of religion, 
and to form his heart to virtue. 

Docile to their advice, Henry soon distinguished 
himself for piety. He had an excellent judgment, 
and the best dispositions. He was apprenticed 
very young to a shoemaker, whom his parents 
chose because of his reputation for honesty and 
sobriety. The little apprentice zealously applied 
to learn his trade ; he was never later than the 
hour prescribed, listened with attention to obser- 
vations made him, and obeyed his master so 
promptly and willingly, that he soon endeared 
himself to him and his acquaintance. He was 
never seen running through the streets, beha- 
ving imprudently, or quarreling with his fellow- 
apprentices like so many others. A lie never 
stained his lips, nor did an improper word drop 
from his mouth ; the least trait of ill temper never 
escaped him. He had an extraordinary desire 
to be instructed perfectly in the duties of a chris- 
tian, and the truths of holy faith. He seized 
every opportunity of attaining this ; assisted at 
sermons, and attended catechism, being persuaded 
that if it be not given to all to be learned and 
erudite, at least all can and should be instructed 
in religion and morality. 



304 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Unlike youth in general, he paid great atten- 
tion to what he heard, and endeavoured to retain 
it. This application, combined with great viva- 
city of mind, soon rendered him so well versed 
in the christian doctrine, that his parents were 
lost in admiration. He loved to speak of good 
things, and did so with such unction that those 
who heard him were edified, and his great piety 
soon gained him the name of Good Henry, which 
he ever after retained. 

By uniting piety with labour, he satisfied his 
obligations to God and man. When his appren- 
ticeship was served and that he became a journey- 
man, far from degenerating from his first fervour, 
he made a greater progress in virtue under the 
special patronage of SS. Crispin and Crispinian, 
who had also professed the trade of shoemaking. 
The life of these great saints who sanctified them- 
selves amidst their humble labours, made a strong 
impression on Henry; he could not sufficiently 
admire how men of exalted birth had quitted all, 
for an humble trade, to qualify themselves to 
labour more effectually for the salvation of souls. 

Animated by their example, he burned with a 
desire to contribute to the sanctification of his 
brother artisans, and believing it conducive to his 
pious design, and useful to perfect himself in his 
trade, he travelled from city to city, as was then 
usually practised. Very different from those 
tradesmen who only quit their employers through 
inconstancy, or from a desire of giving free scope 
to their wretched inclinations, or to indulge indo- 
lence and independence, the Good Henry, before he 
set out, went to beg the divine benediction on his 
enterprise, and the divine aid- to support him 
in the danger to which he would be exposed. 
Fortified with the holy Eucharist, the bread of 



CATHOLIC BIOGHAPUY. 



205 



the strong, and full of confidence in the Most 
High, he left Erlon and bent his course towards 
Luxembourg. He found occupation in the house 
of a very virtuous man, who was strongly attached 
to his religion. He soon found what a treasure he 
possessed in Henry, whose fervour was net less- 
ened by the scandals that are so common in large 
cities. His day was admirably regulated; he 
rose early ; offered all his actions and whole self 
to God, and made his meditation with great devo- 
tion. He then assisted at the holy Mass : it was 
a painful sacrifice when his business obliged him 
to relinquish this happiness. He afterwards went 
to his work, and was mild and affable towards 
his companions and careful to raise his heart to 
God from time to time by pious aspirations. 

In the midst of his occupations he represented 
to himself Jesus, our divine Master, labouring at 
His trade, and the idea of a God exercising a poor 
handicraft, made him love his state, and prefer 
it to great riches. Remembering his holy models, 
Crispin and Crispinian, he felt a new attractive to 
labour for the conversion of persons of his state, 
as well as other artisans, who, from having been 
badly instructed in their holy religion, live forget- 
ful of God, and enslaved to their passions. 

Disorder was not then so prevalent. Of this, 
the success which crowned Henry's exertions is a 
convincing proof; nevertheless, there were then 
to be found idle, licentious, intemperate trades- 
men, ignorant of their christian duties, and blas- 
phemers of the Most High God. This opened a 
field for Henry's zeal ; he went and reasoned with 
these scandalous sinners, represented to them how 
wicked they were in revolting against God, and 
how foolish in compromising their eternal happi- 
ness for their indulgence of some vicious habit, 
which rendered them unhappy even on earth. 20 



306 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



His words were seldom ineffectual ; he generally 
had the consolation of seeing them quit their dis- 
orders and acknowledge their wanderings. He 
particularly attached himself to young people, 
especially those of his own trade; he strove to 
gain their confidence by his amiable manners, and 
then by showing them their folly, withdrew them 
from the abyss. When he found them obstinate 
in wickedness, he implored in their behalf the 
intercession of the Blessed Virgin, and of SS. 
Crispin and Crispinian; then he went to seek 
them in their own houses or in the taverns, and 
spoke to them so forcibly, that he generally gained 
them to God. 

In a short time no person was so much talked 
of at Luxembourg as the Pious Shoemaker. It 
was really amazing to see a poor artisan, without 
money, or influence, or learning, change the 
manners of a considerable portion of the commu- 
nity, and, moreover, that the good was not 
temporary, for all persevered in their pious resolu- 
tions. Henry adopted the most effectual mea- 
sure for their perseverance ; recommending them 
to be assiduous at sermons, and other public 
instructions, and in his private conversations, 
reminding them of what they had heard, explain- 
ing what they did not understand, obliging them 
to a frequent recurrence to the holy sacraments, 
the channels of divine grace, as well as to the flight 
of bad companions, and dangerous occasions, 
assiduity at prayer, and the reading of good books. 

What he most insisted on was morning prayer, 
so generally neglected by trades-people, and he 
required it to be made kneeling, and with all 
possible recollection and fervour. He recom- 
mended the daily recital of the acts of faith, 
hope, and charity. It seemed impossible to him 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



307 



that a christian could fall into sin, if he began 
the day by imploring the divine aid, and adoring 
the Author of his existence. 

Having one day met a young mechanic, a 
scandalous sinner, whose depravity afflicted him 
greatly, he accosted him with great mildness, 
knowing the hatred he bore him, and which he 
often testified, because he had converted almost 
all his wicked companions ; but the libertine 
pushed him away, refused to hear him, and mena- 
ced him with severe treatment. The servant of 
God, quite unmoved, overcame him by his patience, 
and spoke to him with such unction, that he be- 
came a sincere penitent. 

The sinners he converted not only edified the 
city, but co-operated with their young apostle in 
converting others. They drew their former com- 
rades to the service of God, by recounting to them 
the happiness they enjoyed in living like true 
christians. Their edifying conduct caused them to 
be preferred by the master-shoemakers, who relied 
on their integrity, knowing they would consider 
it a great crime to injure them in the least degree. 
When their day's work was ended, they generally 
assembled together, and recreated themselves 
innocently. In summer, they walked out some- 
times to a chapel in town, or some neighbouring 
country church. — Henry was the life and soul of 
those assemblies; each one regarded him as a 
parent, and consulted him in his inquietude. 
He addressed all in words of peace and charity, 
which the sanctity of his life authorised. 

It was not over his companions alone that 
Henry gained ascendancy. If he heard that a 
person cherished hatred and aversion for his neigh- 
bour, he visited him, and by representing to his 
view a God-man praying for his executioners, 



308 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



generally reconciled him with his hated foe. 
Sometimes there was a jealousy for a place, or 
better wages given to another, or an altercation 
between the members of different trades ; but 
Henry, after commending the affair to God, with- 
out any influence save that of virtue, conciliated 
and pacified all. 

If it happened that a husband, by his miscon- 
duct, rendered his wife and family miserable and 
unhappy, or that a wicked son was the shame and 
reproach of his aged parents, Henry sought out 
these lost sheep, and withdrew them from their 
criminal habits. 

In his time the heretics, who were very nume- 
rous in Germany, in the ardour of their zeal, 
endeavoured to make proselytes, and diffuse the 
poison of their errors in all the neighbouring 
countries. It was not alone among the students 
at the universities they sent their emissaries, but 
into the bosom of private families, and among 
uninstructed tradesmen. Many were indebted to 
Henry for the preservation of their faith : he for- 
tified his young companions in their belief, and 
thus rendered unavailing against them all these 
efforts of hell. 

It was really amazing to see a poor tradesman, 
like Henry, having no resource but his earnings, 
able to bestow such great alms, and so liberally 
assist the poor. There was not a day in which he 
did not inflict some privation on himself to relieve 
their necessities ; nor did he forget their spiritual 
wants. He proposed to them all the motives 
furnished by religion, to make them bear their 
lot patiently, and thus render their sufferings 
the seed of eternal recompense. The sight of 
the poor so affected him, that he often gave them 
his clothes or his food, when he had nothing else. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



309 



He interested others for them, recommended 
their cause to his fellow-labourers, worked more 
diligently to be able to increase his alms, often 
visited them, particularly when sick, endeavour- 
ing to dispose them for a happy death. 

Let it not be supposed, that to exercise these 
pious acts, Henry neglected the duties of his 
state. No, his piety was too enlightened to 
believe that any good works, howsoever excellent, 
would sanctify him at the sacrifice of his obliga- 
tions in the profession to which God called him ; 
and hence, it was only after performing these 
he applied to the relief of his neighbour. 

For several years he continued his edifying 
course at Luxembourg. He visited the country 
of Messin also ; but seeing himself honoured and 
esteemed in all places, and being animated too by 
the spirit of God, who had great designs on his 
zealous servant for the salvation of others, he 
determined to go to Paris. The scene presented 
to this pious artisan, on entering the capital, the 
centre of vice, was melancholy indeed; for his 
views entirely differed from those of most other 
tradesmen, who flock to Paris only to destroy 
their economy, their health, nay, their life itself. 
Henry walked with trembling through the scene 
of iniquity, and considering with horror the rava- 
ges there made by irreligion and immorality, felt 
an ardent desire to stem the torrent by every 
means in his power. 

He placed himself in one of the workshops most 
famous for morality ; unlike others, who seek only 
great wages, without heeding whether or not their 
salvation be endangered. He remained some time 
in obscurity, labouring diligently, and considering 
in silence and recollection the means best adapted 
to attain his end, then he connected himself, as at 



310 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Erlon, with some lads of his trade, and soon formed 
in Paris a little association similar to that at home. 

What afflicted him most, and seemed to him 
the greatest evil among the Parisians, was the 
neglect of- Mass, and public instructions by trades- 
men on Sundays. The ordinances against public 
infringement of the Lord's day were then in 
vigour, and restrained men from its open violation. 
Nevertheless, mechanics did not sanctify it by the 
frequentation of the offices of the Church, and 
thereby deprived themselves of the graces and 
helps that are derived from them. But if Henry 
had lived till now, what would be his indignation ? 
if he had seen the sabbath profaned, the law of 
God trampled under foot, what would be his sor- 
row? for it is no longer a simple negligence of 
religious duties in our tradesmen, it is an open 
revolt against the divine command : Memember to 
keep holy the sabbath day." Sunday morning sees • 
them still employed, and the sound of the church 
bell is drowned in the cry of avarice. "I must 
amass wealth," says the employer ; "I must earn 
a livelihood, " says the tradesman. Guilty master! 
of what use will your sacrilegious wealth be when 
you will be cited before the Lord ? These riches, 
that fortune, may be lost to you in this world; 
but, though you be able to preserve it till death, it 
will seal your condemnation in eternity. 

Wicked servant ! unfortunate artisan ! you work 
on the sabbath, because, you say, you must earn 
a subsistence. But hold, do you believe that 
your fellow-tradesmen who abstain from labour 
die of hunger ? Do you think that he who ordain- 
ed the seventh day to be kept holy would let 
those perish who comply with the command? 
Have you done all in your power to get work from 
a man who observes the precept of sanctifying the 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



311 



Lord's day ? I know that in these unhappy days 
tradesmen are often critically situated ; but I 
know also that the third commandment expressly 
forbids labour on the sabbath without absolute 
necessity, which necessity you should submit to 
the decision of your pastor. 

But how few act in this manner ! almost all 
forget that they have a God to serve, or a soul to 
save. True a certain number are careful to hear 
Mass on Sundays and festivals; but how few with 
respect, devotion, or attention ! How small is the 
number who assist at the parish Mass and exhor- 
tation — at vespers or at sermons ! Ah, my God ! 
how few serve You, who so well deserve to be 
served by all ! After consecrating the first fruits 
of the sabbath to Satan, let us see if those nominal 
Catholics become sensible of their fault, or go to 
bewail it in the temple of the Lord. Alas ! no ! 
if they have ceased to remember they were chris- 
tians, they have also forgotten they were husbands 
and fathers. It is in the public-house, the tap- 
room of which resounds with their boisterous excla- 
mations, their wicked oaths, and indecent songs, 
you will be sure to find them. And, after this, 
can we wonder at the decay of morality ? Oh ! 
when once a person shakes off the yoke of religion, 
he abandons himself to every excess ; if he avoid 
any vice, it is merely from want of inclination, 
and not from a principle of conscience. 

What do we behold in the houses of these un- 
fortunate tradesmen? A wife sighing over the 
misconduct of her husband, or, what is often the 
case, imitating his wicked example. No order, 
no economy, no resource against a casual want of 
employment or unforeseen accidents ; offensive 
words, vexatious altercations, continual quarrels, 
disgrace the scene. When they do not go so far 



312 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



as to refuse to speak to each other, they are stran* 
gers to peace ; kind expressions, which would 
sweeten the cup of misfortune, never drop from 
their lips ; all is anger, quarrelling, and strife. 

The infant witnesses of this wickedness — chil- 
dren whom their mother never taught to pray, 
and who only hear from their father curses and 
maledictions, can neither be submissive to God, 
nor obedient to man. If, when they grow up, 
they are sent to schools, where they are reli- 
giously educated, if, while they are preparing for 
the first communion, they frequent instructions 
and catechism, these germs of salvation are choked 
by the first wicked impressions they received, as 
well as by the bad example they have still under 
their eyes. Natural propensities lead them into 
evil, and the company of other wicked children 
completes their ruin. 

What a contrast does the life of the Good Hen- 
ry's companions exhibit ! They arose in the 
morning when all others were buried in sleep, and 
their first thoughts were of God. After dressing, 
they offered the day to Him, and implored His 
blessing on their labours. They assisted at Mass, 
if possible, and went to work with a holy alacrity 
and joy, because they knew it to be the will of 
God. Other tradesmen, on the contrary, quitted 
their beds with reluctance, rose out of temper, 
and said nothing to God. They saw in this new 
day but new pains and fatigues ; they went to 
work by habit, and continued it till night ; the 
day being spent, their wages were earned, but 
that is all. Not a good thought, nor a single 
elevation of heart to God had escaped them 
until they returned at night, the soul as empty 
as the body was fatigued, when, without offering a 
single prayer to the Most High, they cast them- 
selves L*«o the arms of sleep. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



313 



The Good Henry and his companions also 
laboured and took repose, as well as the irreligious 
tradesman; they underwent the same fatigue, 
and were employed almost in the same labours. — 
Whence then arose the great disparity between 
them ? It is that the latter, sensible of the end 
for which they were created, viz., to serve God 
on earth, and to enjoy him in heaven, endeavoured 
to direct all their acts towards Him, whether tri- 
vial or important, and the intention sanctifies the 
action. They began the day by prayer, and re- 
turning at night to their humble habitation, where 
peace and tranquillity resided, blessed the Lord 
for his favours, taught their children to sanctify 
his name, craved pardon for the faults which, on 
examining, they found they had committed, pur- 
posed amendment for the next day, should they live 
to see it, and pronouncing the holy names of Jesus, 
Mary, and Joseph, fell asleep, commending their 
souls into the hands of God. "Sweet " says the 
scripture, " is the repose of the laborious." In effect, 
while the body sleeps, the soul watches, expecting 
a new day to practise the same good works, and 
add to its store in eternity. 

Thus their days flowed away in peace, and an 
ever-increasing serenity ; thus they laboured to 
enrich their crown, if not with heroic deeds, at 
least with numberless small actions performed for 
God, and under his eyes, knowing that in eternity, 
for the smallest thing done for him, He will he 
their exceeding great reward. Hence it appears, 
that to be happy here, and blessed hereafter, 
nothing extraordinary is requisite. It is only 
necessary to fulfil the duties of one's state, and 
comply with the obligations of religion. Henry 
was very remote from seeking a great reputation, 
if he had not been called to something -extraor- 



314 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



dinary, lie would never haye emerged from the 
obscurity in which his birth placed him, and which 
he prized above all the riches of the earth. To 
accomplish his designs on his humble servant, the 
Lord made use of the pious Baron de Renty.* 
No sooner did he know the Good Henry, than he 
fully appreciated his merit, and religion bursting 
the barrier which separated a great nobleman 
from an humble tradesman, a strict friendship 
was formed between them, cemented by the love 
of God, and zeal for the salvation of souls. The 
baron was amazed to find, in a man totally unedu- 
cated, such a fund of virtue and knowledge of 
divine things ; but nothing edified him more than 
his profound humility and spirit of prayer. 
Thenceforward he treated him as a brother, made 
him the confidant of his designs, and the sharer 
in his good works. Henry felt a reciprocal esteem 
and affection for de Renty, but could not dis- 
semble the confusion he felt by being honoured 
with the friendship of so noble a personage. 

There was an hospital established in Paris, 
under the title of St. Gervasius, where it was cus- 
tomary to receive strangers for three successive 
nights. Here were to be found spendthrifts, 
soldiers, and persons of scandalous life — some who 
had been many years without confession, and 
others who had reached the age of maturity with- 
out a tincture of christian instruction. — Baron de 
Renty frequented this asylum, to administer to 
its wretched inmates spiritual and corporal aid ; 
and Henry seeing the great fruits to be there 
gathered for heaven, visited it every night for the 
same laudable purpose. He addressed to them 
most moving exhortations, taught them to pray, 
and instructed them in all their religious duties 
* See his life further on. 



CATHOLIC BIOGBAPHY. 



315 



on the mornings of Sundays and festivals. He 
delighted in communicating at the chapel of this 
hospital. " I am happy,'' said he, "to see myself 
at the table of Jesus Christ, in the midst of the 
penitent and the poor." 

In this asylum of human miseries, he often met 
obdurate and hardened sinners, and by the feryour 
of his zeal and charity, effected their conversion. 
If these had been debauchee children of family, or 
fugitive servants, he conducted them to their 
parents and masters, and obtained their pardon. 

On Sundays he spent some time at the Hotel 
Dieu ; gifted with particular graces to assist the 
sick and dying, the pious artisan performed the 
charitable act with unwearied zeal, accompanied 
by the young mechanics whom he had placed in 
the ways of God. These acquitted themselves of 
their pious work with such fervour and recollec- 
tion, that the entire establishment was edified. 

Baron de Renty, and some others distinguished 
for their piety, seeing that the Good Henry despoil- 
ed himself of all to relieve the poor, and wishing 
to give him more importance in the scale of 
society, procured him the rights of citizenship, 
and master-shoemaker. This last privilege quali- 
fied him to receive apprentices, and employ jour- 
neymen, and he soon had a considerable establish- 
ment. Full of affection for these youths, he form- 
ed them to virtue, as well as to their trade. They 
being already convinced of the value of such a 
master and model, participated in all his good 
works, and made it their glory to imitate him. 

When he met tradesmen out of employment, 
he brought them home, provided them with 
clothes, money, and tools, and if they did not know 
their trade perfectly, he instructed them, and serv- 
ed them on every occasion. Several employers 



316 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



imitated this admirable conduct, and thus drew a 
number of artisans from all the horrors of crime. 

A vast field now opened itself for the zeal of 
Henry. Among the artisans of his day most de- 
testable customs prevailed, under the name of 
associations. These unions were so much the 
more pernicious, as they hid themselves under the 
veil of apparent religion, and were formed with 
impunity. The most sacred dogmas of religion 
were turned into derision; the most holy cere- 
monies of the church ridiculed ; and, after these 
abominable sports, the associates passed the rest 
of the Sundays in drunken orgies, concluding all 
with the most shameful debaucheries. 

On hearing of these abominations, the servant 
of God felt animated to put an end to them, and 
pursued their extinction with as much zeal as 
prudence. Some overwise friends thought to turn 
him away from his enterprise, by the representa- 
tion of its difficulties. "What," said they, "will 
you alone, and without wealth or influence, oppose 
yourself to that host of tradesmen dispersed 
throughout France and other kingdoms ? You will 
spend your time in vain, and expose yourself to 
assassination from some of those immoral artisans." 

Insensible to human considerations, Henry 
visited such of these miserable christians as dwelt 
at Paris, and after showing them their unhappy 
state, conjured them to abandon it. But almost 
all ridiculed his solicitations, and pushed on by 
the spirit of darkness, menaced him with destruc- 
tion if he opposed their associations. Meantime, 
these disorders were submitted to the ecclesiasti- 
cal superiors ; and fourteen doctors in theology, 
after deliberating on the matter, pronounced the 
oaths and practices of these associations impious 
and superstitious. This censure took place in 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



317 



September, 1645, but without effect. They still 
subsisted, though again condemned in 1646, and 
that Henry spread the sentence of condemnation 
as much as possible. It is true, that some among 
those wicked men acknowledged their errors, and 
tried to repair them by a more christian life ; but 
by far the greater number continued their impie- 
ties, proving by their obstinacy, how blind man 
is, when abandoned to his reprobate sense. To 
see illiterate tradesmen fancying themselves more 
learned than all the Sorbonne, was indeed lamen- 
table. At length, the civil officers interfered, and 
condemned to banishment all the members of 
these illegal and wicked assemblies. 

Henry then redoubled his exertions to induce 
them to submit — his zeal was proof against all 
difficulties ; the longest journeys and most painful 
courses were surmounted by his charity. — Obsti- 
nate in their wickedness, some of the trades heaped 
outrages upon him, insulted him, publicly railed 
at his piety, and endeavoured to blacken his credit, 
and obscure his reputation, but his resolution 
overcame all the representations of his friends, 
and efforts of his enemies. Nothing disturbed his 
interior peace ; ever supported by the credit of 
Baron Renty, and above all by the power of the 
Most High, he candidly confessed, that injuries 
and contradictions were as nothing in his eyes, 
provided he might effect the salvation of even one 
of those guilty wretches, and that he relied on 
God for the success of his enterprise. 

His hopes were not deceived. A great number 
who had hitherto resisted the voice of conscience, 
the command of the civil law, and the exhortations 
of the Good, Henry, were at length converted, and 
came to give him testimony of their repentance. 
He received them tenderly. Others followed this 



318 



CATHOLIC BIOGrUAPHY. 



example. In a short time, the most obdurate yield- 
ed, and instructed bj the servant of God, evinced 
every disposition to repair past scandals. Soon 
these associations were not even to be heard of, and 
disappeared totally from the face of the kingdom. 

This happy result merited for Henry the bene- 
dictions of all who wished well to religion. It 
was evident he was conducted by the Spirit of 
God, otherwise he would never have succeeded 
in a work of such magnitude and importance. 

But it was not enough for Henry to rescue so 
m^ny from wickedness, he endeavoured to make 
them persevere in virtue, associated them in his 
good works, led them to pious conferences, and 
exhorted them to love and mutually assist each 
other. To preserve them from danger on Sundays 
and Festivals, he conducted them to the church 
of the hospital, shared in their recreations, and 
rendered virtue amiable to them by his sweetness 
and condescension. If sick, he visited them, 
exhorted them to patience, and showed them the 
advantages derivable from sufferings. He also 
procured them all the relief he could ; though he 
were obliged to borrow, he would not leave them 
without necessaries. 

Amidst all these good works, Henry believed 
himself a useless servant. He attributed all the 
honour of success to Baron de Renty and his fel- 
low-tradesmen. He had selected from among his 
men, seven, who by their excellent dispositions 
seemed best fitted for his manner of life. These 
lived with him, eat at his table, and seemed to 
have with him but one heart and one soul. His 
establishment prospered beyond the most sanguine 
expectations ; his reputation for uprightness and 
honesty procured him crowds of customers. He 
could have amassed wealth, but he loved better 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



319 



to heap up heavenly treasures, by abundant alms 
to the poor. Some of bis confreres at first envied 
him his great trade, but on perceiving how deserving 
he was of it, their sentiments were changed into a 
sense of respect and veneration. Such is the ascen- 
dancy of virtue, and the power of good example. 

Henry was now about fifty years old. He had 
passed this half century in exercises of christian 
piety, and without taking into account the par- 
ticular views of providence in his regard, might 
be proposed as a model to all tradesmen, from 
their apprenticeship to their settlement in busi- 
ness. For we cannot too often repeat it, to de- 
prive men of bad will of all pretexts, and weak 
souls of every motive to discouragement, that it 
is not great actions which make saints, hut the practice 
of virtue, and the fulfilment of the duties of our state. 
Few are called to heroic deeds ; all are called to 
be saints. Hence we should not demand the great 
favours bestowed on some servants of God, but 
sanctify ourselves, if it be his will, in the holy 
obscurity of Mary and Joseph. By imitating 
them, a poor artisan, an humble mechanic in his 
shop, will taste the sweetness of the Lord, and 
eventually secure his eternal salvation. 

We have found these reflections necessary, 
before we detail the last years of the Good Henry, 
for it was then he founded an institution, which 
was the admiration of his age, the edification of 
the faithful, and the ornament of the church, that 
of The Brother Shoemakers. For a long time he 
felt desirous to extend his little society, and to 
give it a rule which could perpetuate it. The 
pious example of his seven companions, the good 
they drew from their living in common, and to 
which others might be associated, increased this 
sentiment. The more earnestly he prayed to the 



320 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Lord to know his will, the more he felt impelled 
to this good work. Baron de Renty was equally 
concerned for the affair, and finally, on the feast 
of the Purification, 1645, to bring it to a conclu- 
sion, he conducted Henry and his associates to 
the house of the parish priest of St. Paul, who, 
with his vicar, and some other persons remarkable 
for their rank and piety, having examined, and 
being edified by the sentiments of the pious 
artisans, declared that their vocation to form them- 
selves into a society came from on High, and that 
God would be honoured by it. 

The good rector drew up their rules, which 
allied their daily labour with religious exercises. 
Thus commenced the society of The Brother Shoe- 
makers, which soon spread throughout the king- 
dom, and even extended itself to Italy. The 
archbishop of Paris, John Francis de Gondi, con- 
sidering the fruits they produced, confirmed the 
rules of the rector of St. Paul, contributed to the 
extension of the society, and named for its direc- 
tor an ecclesiastic of approved talent and virtue. 
The Good Henry was chosen its superior, and 
Baron de Renty protector. When he died, M. de 
Mesine, president of the parliament in Paris, was 
appointed in his place. 

Thus arose in the midst of the world a religious 
institution, without the retreat, or vows, or habit 
of religion, and which consolidated itself by the 
spirit of charity and love of labour. The virtuous 
men who formed it, though free to withdraw when 
they pleased, persevered despite of the attacks of 
the devil and the world, and evinced as much zeal 
for the observance of their rules, as a fervent 
Carthusian in his cloister of the Chartreuse. 
Though unanimously chosen superior, Henry re- 
garded himself as the servant of all. He performed 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



321 



for them the lowest offices, preparing the repasts, 
sweeping the house, and finding nothing painful 
or abject. He was always the last in bed, and 
the first to rise, and he continued in prayer until 
the hour for waking the brothers, which was fixed 
at five o'clock. Prayer being made in common, 
all assisted at Mass, after which they applied to 
labour. At certain hours they took their meals 
and prayed, read the life of the saint of the day, 
and sung pious canticles, without interrupting 
their work. What a life of benediction ! Their 
shop resembled the choir of a church, and their 
houses, like those of the first christians, were so 
many temples consecrated to the King of kings. 

From this gratifying scene, let us transport 
ourselves to the workshops of these unhappy days. 
We cannot, it is true, expect to find in them the 
regularity of a religious congregation, the mem- 
bers being dispersed in different quarters of the 
city, cannot maintain that community of actions 
and pious exercises, which form the basis of the 
association of the brother shoemakers. But shall 
we find among them some traits of Christianity ? 
I enter a manufactory, I observe a number of 
artisans actively engaged, I listen, and hear one 
of them blaspheme wickedly. " What motive 
impels you," I say, "thus to profane the name of 
God ?" " 0 nothing, 'tis only a habit," he replies. 
$o wonder it should be a habit, since he commits 
it when the least thing goes wrong, when his 
tools are out of order, or his implements are mis- 
laid. 

If I lend an ear to the conversation of some of 
the younger tradesmen, their libertinism horrifies 
me. Here is an aged man who decries religion 
und its ministers ; there another murmurs against 

21 



322 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



providence ; further on I am greeted by indecent 
songs, and shouts of laughter. I see the old scan- 
dalizing the young, and the young making it their 
glory to imitate the old. If it be a fast day, they 
imagine they are dispensed from the law because 
of their labour. No doubt some trades are too 
laborious to allow fasting or abstinence ; but the 
case should be submitted to the pastor, no trades- 
man should take the liberty of emancipating him- 
self from the laws of the Church. 

Such is the sad portrait of most of our work- 
shops. If a person ask them why they labour 
from morning till night, all will say, "To gain a 
livelihood." But if he say, " You have a soul to 
save," they look at him as if it were strange news 
to them, and say nothing. "G poor men," if he 
continue, "do you not fear eternal punish- 
ment?" "We fear nothing," they will reply, 
"but sickness, or want of employment." 0 man! 
created to God's own image, will you thus forget 
your high destiny ? You are poor, but your pov- 
erty furnishes you with a new claim on the king- 
dom of heaven. Ah! if you are still ignorant, 
hasten to be instructed ; quit your bad habits, 
practise the duties of your holy religion, and you 
will find a balm for your sorrows on earth, and a 
solace for your woes in heaven. 

Such were the reflections which encouraged 
the Brother Shoemakers in their pious enterprise, 
and which engaged them to omit nothing that 
could insure its success. Every year they spent 
some days in retreat, and often held spiritual con- 
ferences. On Sundays and holidays they visited 
the hospitals, prisons, and sick poor. Peace and 
union were absolute among them ; an amiable 
serenity was painted on their countenances; 
calumny, lying, and reproach were banished from 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



323 



their lips, and charity governed their little estab- 
lishment with unlimited sway. 

Their life was so edifying that two years after 
their establishment, two master tailors, the most 
pious in Paris, resolved to found such another as - 
sociation for their trade. Having chosen seven 
young men for that purpose, they went to consult 
the Good Henry, the last day of carnival, (a time 
of riot and excess,) 1647, they found him at work 
with his fraternity, all singing together the praises 
of God, while the whole city was drowned in de- 
bauchery. Charmed with the pious scene, they 
communicated their design to Henry, who blessed 
God for it, and instantly went with them to con- 
sult the good parish priest of St. Paul. He con- 
gratulated them on their resolution, encouraged 
them to persevere, and bade Henry communicate 
his rule to them. 

He united them with the shoemakers, they lived 
together and practised the same exercises, but to 
avoid all danger of confusion he formed them into 
a separate establishment after some time. They 
corresponded so faithfully with his cares, that they 
were soon as fervent as their predecessors. Who 
could enumerate the advantages derived to society 
from those pious associations? Morals purified, 
public sinners converted, men without religion 
become pious and devout, the weak supported, 
and the just rendered perseverant. These were 
not the only fruits they produced ; they gave em- 
ployment to the poorest tradesman, furnished 
them with necessaries, taught their orphans trades 
without a fee, helped others in their apprentice- 
ship, succoured the old and infirm, and relieved 
such of their brethren as were deprived of re- 
sources. 



324 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



Henry animated, directed, and governed all, 
yet still found time to work himself ; he sought 
only the glory of God ; his hope was fixed in Him. 
The divine omnipotence was his support in weak- 
ness, his riches in poverty, his consolation in 
suffering. Nothing alarmed him; difficulties 
seemed only to encourage him. On these occa- 
sions he used to say, " we must hope in God/' 
When his designs were crossed he used to add, "I 
cannot conceive how persons for some little trou- 
ble abandon the Lord's work then he redoubled 
his exertions and they were crowned with success. 

To this burning zeal for the interests of God, 
Henry united a fund of sweetness that nothing 
could embitter. The spirit of contention found in 
him a warm adversary. He sought to spread in 
all places harmony and peace, and was singularly 
fortunate in reconciling enemies as well as in 
leading sinners to God. These could not resist 
the spirit which spoke in him; he softened the 
most obdurate, and moved God by his prayers 
and penances to pity and convert the most wicked 
and licentious. Charging himself with their 
debts to the divine justice, he offered for them 
numberless acts of mortification and austerity. 
Among many traits of his ardent charity we cite 
the following: 

A man, noted for his debaucheries and excesses, 
was a long time, but ineffectually, the object of 
Henry's zeal and charity. He besought him 
often to think of death; he set before his eyes 
the torments prepared for the impenitent, but 
these only rendered him more obdurate. One 
day, on which he had made a last but fruitless 
attempt, he returned home, and recommended to 
his brethren the conversion of this scandalous 
sinner, while he betook himself to move heaven in 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



325 



his favour, praying with many sighs and tears. 
He was heard. The last words he spoke to the 
delinquent returned so forcibly to his mind, that 
he began to see his danger, and ran to find Henry. 
But what a sight did he witness ! Henry bathed 
in tears and sighing over his iniquities at the foot 
of the cross. He could no longer resist; he 
throws himself on his knees before his pious 
friend — condemned his past follies — resolved on 
being converted — distributed all his goods to the 
poor — and took refuge himself in a monastery, 
where he closed his days in prayer and penance* 

It was impossible that all those whom Henry 
led to virtue could be equally fervent, some for 
want of humility or christian vigilance committed 
such faults as greatly afSicted him. But however 
ungrateful the prodigal showed himself, Henry, 
like a good parent, sought him instead of aban- 
doning him, then spoke to him privately, and re- 
proved him so mildly and tenderly, that the wan- 
derer, unable to resist such kindness, was moved 
to regret and softened to repentance. 

To his other virtues, Henry joined a singular 
devotion to the holy Virgin, under whose patron- 
age he placed himself and his brethren, and an 
unbounded obedience to the laws of the church 
and to all superiors. With the utmost simplicity 
he manifested to his confessor the state of his 
soul, and considering him the representative of 
God, walked in the way he pointed out to him 
without murmur or disquiet. He spent his last 
years in the service of Him to whom he conse- 
crated his first. Some unpleasant affairs regard- 
ing his establishment at Toulouse, obliging him 
to go thither, he^travelled on foot nearly 200 
leagues, without once complaining of fatigue. A 
new establishment at Soissons, obliged him to 



326 



CATHOLIC BIOGBAPHY. 



make several journeys. Meantime his infirmities 
increased daily, and the Lord wishing to purify 
him still more, sent him an illness which lasted 
three years and a half. During the last six 
months his malady so increased, that together 
with some temporal embarrassments and pains of 
mind, he was reduced to a piteous state ; but re- 
signation to the will of God, and the hope of an 
eternal recompense supported him under all. 
The last few days he lived, a pure joy, a firm con- 
fidence and lively hope inundated him with delight; 
always humble, he made every effort to testify 
the pain he felt at the praises which a certain re- 
spectable visitor gave him for his good works ; so 
that one of his brothers said to this gentleman, 
" Sir, what you say pains our father Henry." 
Some time after, his confessor having asked him 
if he desired anything, he replied : " No ! all is 
God's, all belongs to God, and God is all." After 
receiving the viaticum with great devotion, they 
announced to him with much caution an inconve- 
nience he should undergo. 44 Ah! my brothers," 
said he, "I submit to that and all things else." 

During his agony, the pious brotherhood as- 
sembled round his bed to see him once more and 
receive his benediction. After looking at them 
tenderly for some time, the holy old man lifting 
his eyes to heaven, blessed them with a trembling 
hand, saying, "My dear brethren, be faithful; 
confide in God, he will bless his work." 

Growing weaker, he took the blessed candle, 
kissed it respectfully, made acts of the tenderest 
charity, hope, and love, and peaceably slept in the 
Lord, 9th June, 1866. The sighs and tears of his 
brethren announced his happy death. His remains 
were interred in the cemetery of St. Gervasius, at 
Paris. 



327 



THE LIFE OF MARY E. TRICALET LE 
BCEUF. 

Mary Elizabeth Tricalet was born at Besanc^on, 
on the visitation of the Blessed Virgin, 2nd July, 
1690, of a distinguished family, and brought up in 
principles of piety and religion. Being surround- 
ed by examples of virtue and her paternal home, 
she was convinced in good time that she ought to 
adopt every precaution to preserve the precious 
treasure of her baptismal innocence. Adorned 
with those natural graces which the world consi- 
ders the most precious advantages of the sex, she 
rendered herself still more remarkable for her 
candour, modesty, docility, attention to prayer, 
devotion to the holy Virgin, and compassion for 
the poor. It gratified her parents very much to 
see this young plant flourish in the field of the 
Lord ; their only fear was that the enemy of all 
good might snatch her from it ; to preserve her 
from this misfortune, they sent her to be educated 
at the Benedictine monastery of Besancon. She 
there made her first communion with the most 
fervent piety, and in the first transports of love 
and gratitude, would willingly have bid the world 
an eternal farewell, to embrace the austerities of 
the cloister ; but the moment of God had not yet 
arrived for her, and her parents had the unhappi- 
xiess of witnessing what they so much feared — 
want of perseverance, for from the moment she 
returned from the convent, she showed but too 
plainly that we carry the treasure of grace in frail 
vessels. 

Mary Elizabeth now arrived at that critical 



328 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



time of life, when the world spreads its allure- 
ments most successfully, and was quite off her 
guard against its attacks, the danger of which she 
had not yet experienced. Sho received with delight 
the praises which were lavished on her talents — 
she listened with complacency to the syren voice 
which offered incense to her charms ; self-love 
poisoned her heart, a tumultuous joy bewildered 
her, the goods of fortune seduced her, solitude 
had no longer any sweets for her ; a love of gaudy 
show and flippery succeeded the simplicity and 
modesty of her early .years ; in fine, she almost 
forgot she was a christian. Such was the fatal 
state in which she lived, until the period of her 
marriage with Mr. Le Boeuf at the age of twenty- 
two years. 

This gentleman was secretary to the king, and 
possessed great merit. It was feared in the com- 
mencement that disparity, in point of age and 
disposition, might be hurtful to the peace and 
union of the spouses ; but Mary Elizabeth disap- 
pointed these anticipations. Her politeness and 
complaisance removed every thing that could 
prejudice harmony ; but the cares of the house- 
hold were to her a heavy burden, and a desire to 
please the world alone occupied her. 

Extremely fond of dress, she made little account 
of the time and money she expended at her toilet. 
She was sought after in the most brilliant circles, 
because she lent herself to all the pleasures which 
constituted their life and soul, and filled up the 
few moments which they left at her disposal, by 
the perusal of pernicious novels which corrupt the 
heart, or make fatal impressions upon it. 

Thus she walked on the brink of the precipice 
— the merciful hand of God alone prevented her 
falling therein, as she afterwards confessed. She 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



329 



avoided every thing that could show her the dan- 
ger of her state ; her person was her idol ; all that 
could flatter her taste was the object of her pur- 
suit ; the most exquisite and delicious meats were 
necessary for her sensuality. She could not suffer 
the appearance of contradiction, and however 
polite and complaisant abroad, she was haughty 
and imperious at home. Her passion for balls 
and plays was beyond bounds ; in a word, she was 
during the first years of her marriage only the 
shadow of a christian. 

She was yet lulled in her fatal lethargy when 
she brought forth a son. This child, the only 
fruit of her marriage, corresponded at first with 
the cares which were bestowed on him, and his 
qualities of mind and body inspired the most 
flattering expectations. Nothing was neglected 
that could advance him in devotion and learning ; 
but the satisfaction he at first gave was changed 
into uneasiness and chagrin ; the lightness of his 
character, and his relish for play, choked the good 
seed, which had not yet time to take root. The 
afilicted mother had recourse to menaces, but all 
were useless; in vain did she represent to him 
that the hopes of his family were founded on him, 
that it was necessary for him to seek an estab- 
lishment suited to his fortune. The very mention 
of establishment annoyed him; travelling better 
suited his taste. He quitted his paternal home in 
consequence, and even without bidding his affec- 
tionate mother adieu. But this was not the only 
cup of bitterness with which the Lord decreed to 
drench a heart that for a long period did not 
belong to him. Madam le Bceuf flattered herself 
that the military state would fix her son's incon- 
stancy, and for this purpose she procured him a 
considerable post; but the order and discipline 



330 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



proper to that profession, were so much opposed 
to his love of idleness and dissipation, that he soon 
quitted it to deliver himself anew to his passion 
for roving. The consequence was, that having 
frustrated the hope of his friends, he was depri- 
ved of their possessions, which were very conside- 
rable. 

It would seem that strokes so sensible should 
lead the mother to a sense of her obligations ; 
but the breath of grace blew still too lightly, an 
impetuous wind was necessary to cast down the 
idol which received her worship. Time, which 
destroys all, soon dissipated the chagrin of this 
worldly woman — though tenderly she loved her 
son, she loved herself still more ; and hence, she 
continued to swallow down the false pleasures 
of the world, and to have the same anxiety to 
please it. Always carried down the stream of 
voluptuous delight, she therein sought that 
consolation which was only to be found in God, 
and this merciful God was constrained to mul- 
tiply her afflictions, in order to bring her back to 
herself. 

The habitual illness of her husband was the 
first stroke she met ; this obliged her to withdraw 
more or less from public companies — she was 
every day obliged to make some new sacrifice. 
However, she fully indemnified herself whenever 
a sign of convalescence appeared. 

It is true that for his recovery she spared nei- 
ther fatigue nor expense. The physicians having 
prescribed him the use of mineral waters, she 
accompanied him thither ; but these were un- 
availing towards his re-establishment, and he soon 
after paid the last debt of nature. 

His death greatly afflicted Mary Elizabeth, and 
the many embarrassing affairs in which it plunged 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



331 



her, prolonged the duration of her sorrow. The 
solitude and retreat to which custom consigned 
her during the first year of her widowhood, were 
sufficient, one would think, to make her enter into 
herself ; but her lethargy was still too profound, 
and no sooner was this period elapsed, than she 
resumed her former habits, and delivered herself 
more than ever to the pursuit of pleasure. Seri- 
ous reflections, it is true, sometimes came to 
disturb her security ; but she rejected and strove 
to banish them from her mind. Sometimes she 
listened to. them, and said to herself, " How long 
will these pleasures last ! H ow shall this sensual 

life end? Time destroys all — and death!!! 

Ah ! cruel death! is it possible thou wilt snatch 
me from what I cherish so dearly?" Thus God 
enlightened, and even pressed her to return to 
him, to retrace the footsteps of her early youth, 
wlien she only lived for him ; but, regardless of 
her own happiness, she continued to resist grace. 
At length, the precise time marked for her con- 
version arrived. — One day as she returned homo 
from a splendid entertainment, on entering her 
chamber she chanced to cast her eyes on a cruci- 
fix which hung there, and the sight instantly 
reproached her with her worldly life. But the 
first impression was soon effaced, and the next 
day she ran with new ardour to a numerous assem- 
bly. Determined to give her passions unlimited 
indulgence, she removed the sight of every thing 
which could arouse remorse, and for this purpose 
even covered the crucifix which had agitated her 
the day before ; happily for her the precaution 
was vain. The remorse of her conscience became 
so lively, and so continued, that in the end she 
felt, like St. Paul, all the danger of resisting longer 
the grace which called her. Suddenly she became 



332 CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 

a new creature, resolved to quit all for Christ. The 
only pain she experienced, was of afflicting her 
relations by forsaking them, and yet this step 
was necessary to break the bonds which bound 
her to earth. She could wish to enter into a 
monastery ; but she was not yet sufficiently con- 
firmed in her resolutions to flatter herself that 
she might be able to persevere. In this state of 
mind, not having any person to whom she could 
nnburthen herself, she had recourse to prayer, 
and as she had from her infancy a tender devotion 
to the Holy Virgin, she cast herself now into her 
arms, and prepared to make a pilgrimage to a 
place consecrated to her near Besancon, under 
the title of Our Lady of Consolation, to obtain 
through her intercession a knowledge of the will 
of God, and grace to follow it. The eve of her 
departure she was invited to a supper given by 
one of her family, and the combat she sustained 
in seeing herself among those whom she so much 
cherished, and whom she was now on the point of 
quitting for ever, would be difficult to express. 
More than once during the repast her sighs and 
tears were near betraying her secret ; she remained 
victorious, nevertheless, and after returning home 
spent the rest of the night in prayer. The follow- 
ing day she made her confession, and received the 
Holy Communion at our Lady's above-named. In 
this propitious moment, as she watered the feet of 
her Lord with her tears, like another Magdalen, 
and promised him not to return any more to 
Besancon, but to go wherever he wished her to 
sacrifice herself to him. Dijon was the place 
indicated to her, and she arrived there in July, 
1741. 

Her first residence in this city was among the 
Sisters of St. Martha, a religious congregation, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



333 



where she had the happiness of knowing Father 
Naussin, a holy Jesuit, a director according to 
God's own heart. She opened unto him entirely 
the state of her soul, and testified her desire of 
quitting the world for the cloister, as the most 
certain means of fixing her inconstancy; but he 
advised her to enter as pensioner among the Domi- 
nicanesses of the same city. The prioress, and 
the community feared to receive into the house a 
person so full of the spirit and manners of the 
world, and above all to receive her waiting woman, 
with whose character they were quite unacquaint- 
ed, but the charity and zeal of Father Naussin 
overcame all their repugnance, and Madame le 
Bceuf was admitted. The poverty of the apart- 
ment allotted her at first shocked her delicacy—* 
she was yet a novice in the ways of penance, but 
a glance at her past conduct soon reconciled her 
to it, and she said to the prioress with a firm tone, 
" Indeed it is too convenient for a sinner." In 
these trying moments she said to herself, "What- 
ever it costs me I should save my soul. I am too 
weak to resist the maxims of the world, I should 
have abandoned it long ago. God has had great 
patience with me, I a thousand times merited 
hell, and yet this God of goodness has prepared 
xne a sanctuary of peace, where the virtues of his 
faithful spouses will animate me to penance. The 
rest of my life shall be spent in loving him, serv- 
ing him, and doing his will at each and every 
moment. I shall immolate to him the wretched 
remains of a heart entirely unworthy of his accep- 
tance." 

In these pious sentiments she besought her con- 
fessor to hasten her entrance among the Domini- 
canesses, and to defer, until then, the absolution 
of her general confession. "It seems to me," said 



334 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



she, " that it is in that holy house the full pardon 
of my sins will be granted me ; besides, when I 
have made all my sacrifices, I may hope the Lord 
will give me holier dispositions and more perfect 
contrition. Her hope was not vain ; she had not 
passed many days in this pious asylum, when she 
experienced the most lively satisfaction. On 
entering, she went first to the choir to adore the 
Holy Sacrament, and there exclaimed with the 
prophet, " Lord, in the sight of thy infinite mercies 
I will enter into thy house and bless thy holy 
name : what shall I offer to thee that is worthy ? 
I have nothing but myself, 0 Lord ! behold, I 
sacrifice myself to thy love. If my sins discourage 
me, thy name, thy blood, thy cross, thy death, 
inanimate my confidence. I adore thy omnipo- 
tence ; but I admire and love thy infinite goodness 
m pardoning repentant sinners. I am an unclean 
sinner, purify me, I beseech thee, number me 
with thy most fervent adorers. Too long hast 
thou sought me, at length thou hast won my 
heart, I abandon myself wholly to thee, my only 
desire is to be faithful to thee on earth, and to 
dwell in thy holy house all the days of my life." 
Thus pouring out her soul before the Lord, her 
transports were so great, that they were even 
obliged to force her from the foot of the altar. 
From thence she was led to her chamber, where 
she cast herself at the feet of the mother prioress, 
beseeching her to take her in charge as a poor 
strayed sheep. " The burden is heavy, mother," 
said she, "but do not be discouraged, relax not 
your charitable cares until you have lodged me 
in the bosom of God; use no ceremony or com- 
pliment with one whose vanity has deserved hell ; 
my only fear is, that you will spare me too much." 
After taking up her new abode, Madame le 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



335 



Boeuf found in her drawers a quantity of rouge ; 
she instantly gave it up to the prioress with the 
submission of a child. Perceiving that when the 
nuns visited her, they turned their eyes from a 
large chimney-glass which she had in her apart- 
ment, she covered it with a cloth, and soon after 
sold it for the benefit of the poor. She sacrificed 
also some rich tapestry, so that everything about 
her breathed penance and mortification. A little 
saloon in her chamber formed two little cabinets, 
one for her oratory, the other for her waiting 
maid's bed, a painting covered the walls of her 
room^ some objects of devotion hung around it, 
but she ornamented it with her virtues, watered 
it with her tears, and filled it with the good odour 
of Jesus Christ. 

The day she received absolution after her 
general confession, was the happiest of her life; 
she left the confessional bathed in tears ; she com- 
municated next day with such devotion, as edified 
the whole community, and passed several hours 
in making her thanksgiving. After dinner she 
visited the religious, and said, " I have found at 
length, ladies, the place of my repose ; Oh, how 
heavy is the yoke which the world imposes on its 
servants ! Bless with me the hand which drew 
me from it, and help me by your prayers to carry 
the yoke of Christ, the sweetness of which I already 
begin to taste." 

One of the first dispositions which grace gene- 
rated in her soul, was a profound sense of her 
nothingness, and the enormity of her sins. If she 
often styled herself a sinner, the persuasion that 
she was such was still more deeply rooted in her 
heart. Her air, her deportment, announced a soul 
overwhelmed by the weight of its faults ; despite 
of her progress in piety she saw in herself nothing 



336 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



but poverty and misery — she became as anxious 
for reprimands, as she had thirsted after praise ; 
for the rich attire to which she was accustomed, 
she substituted garments of the plainest quality — 
like all true penitents she tried to practise in a 
particular manner the virtues opposed to her 
favourite vices. In the world she used to com- 
mand her servants most imperiously— in her 
retreat, grace metamorphosed her heart, as her 
waiting maid happily experienced. 61 1 have always 
spoken haughtily to you," said she, " now I shall 
command you nothing ; I shall look to your charity 
and affection for the services I need ; I shalLeven 
consider you my sister, and we shall eat at the 
same table." 

On the eves of great festivals she kissed the 
feet of this servant as well as those of the lay 
sisters in the community, to share in the humili- 
ations of her God and Saviour. She considered 
herself the opprobrium of the house, and wish- 
ing to be of some utility, she resolved on 
petitioning to be received among the lay sisters, 
but first consulted those who by their piety and 
wisdom were most likely to discover the will of 
God in her regard. One of those was Abbe Tri- 
calet, her brother, a priest and director of a semi- 
nary at Paris, a very worthy clergyman, and to 
her a great source of consolation. The letter she 
wrote to him on this occasion breathes such a 
spirit of humility, that we have no doubt it will 
be read with edification. 

"Dijon, 12th July, 1.758, 
"Will that zeal which God, my dear brother, 
has given you for my salvation, induce you to do 
me a favour ? It is to recommend me to God, 
during nine days successively at the holy sacri- 
fice, and to say for my intention three Gloria 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



337 



Patris and three Ave Marias, that God may make 
known whether the desire I have conceived of 
becoming a lay sister proceeds from him. I wonld 
not wish to be a choir sister, although they were 
"willing to receive me as such, for I would not be 
able to fulfil all the duties of the rule, particularly 
the great office and matins which are said at mid- 
night, and I would not wish to introduce a breach 
of regular observance in this holy community. 
I am desirous to know if it be the will of the Divine 
Pastor who has conducted me hither, that I should 
consecrate myself to him by indissoluble vows ; 
then neither age nor infirmity could make me 
change, and it is very just, that I should give 
him my last hour, after, alas ! giving the world 
my youth. I have not yet done any thing to 
testify to him my gratitude for drawing me from 
hell, and in taking the habit I would consecrate 
myself wholly to him. Ask him, dear brother, if 
such be his will — engage for this purpose the 
prayers of your pious friends. I wish you could 
commence the Novena on Saturday, which will 
be the 17th. I am quite pleased to hear you are 
so devout to St. Dominick, since I have the happi- 
ness of residing in one of his houses, and mean to 
die one of his children, for the manifestation of 
the power and mercy of God towards me, who am 
the weakest and most unworthy of all sinners. 
" Yours affectionately in Christ, 

"M. Tricalet le B(euf." 
"I have not been able," said the Abbe, in his 
reply, dated 24th July, " to read your letter, mj 
dear sister, without tears of joy. I have performed 
the Novena, and interested St. Joseph for you, 
for I have great confidence in him. I believe that 
your desire of being a nun comes from God, but I 
think he has only inspired it to try you like Abra- 



338 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



liam, remain then in your present state ; such 
is the divine pleasure. But to participate in some 
degree in the sanctity and merit of a religious, I 
advise you to place yourself under the direction of 
your prioress, and obey her in every thing as the 
last of her daughters. Beg of her to give you a 
regulation for all the actions of the day, by this 
means you will practice obedience without having 
vowed it, you will no longer have any will of your 
own ; all will be stamped with the seal of God's 
good pleasure. Behold your path, dear sister. 
I send you the cincture of St. Dominick. I have 
cut off two little bits for myself. Give my best 
respects to the prioress, and pray for yours, &e. 
&c." 

Madam le Boeuf instantly obeyed the injunc- 
tions of her brother, and attained that holy state 
of spiritual infancy recommended by Jesus Christ. 
All her words and actions were most edifying. 
She would have willingly declared all her sins 
publicly, to manifest the divine mercy and her 
own unworthiness. The least mark of esteem 
visibly annoyed her, and to restore serenity to her 
soul on these occasions, it was necessary to allow 
her to humble herself. She went very seldom to 
the parlour ; in conversation she was brief, even 
on religious subjects, for she feared that in speak- 
ing of virtue, favourable ideas might be conceived 
of her. " It would be a great pity," said she, "to 
allow any person to think well of me ; I could not 
permit them to labour under such a mistake.' ' 

On entering the convent she brought her portrait 
with her ; she would have burned it if she had not 
been prevented: it gave her great pain to see 
it preserved, but as obedience required it, she 
contented herself with getting a painter to clothe 
her in the picture with the religious habit, and to 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



339 



make the features older, and to place in her hand 
a picture of the holy virgin. This likeness has 
been ever after preserved bj the community. 

Her faith equalled her humility ; since her con- 
version it was the main spring of her couduct. 
She had God no less present at all times than if 
she beheld him with her eyes. This presence 
excited in her sentiments of adoration, modesty, 
recollection ; at conversation, work, or recreation, 
she never left this blessed presence. Her faith 
was more manifest in her participation of the 
Holy Sacrament; she was not only humbled, but 
annihilated before the Lord on these occasions. 
She had great respect for the feasts, onices, and 
ceremonies of the Church, and offered continually 
prayers and good works for the exaltation of this 
good mother. " We receive so many favours from 
her," she would say, " from the cradle to the 
tomb, that we can never sufficiently pray that all 
nations may be subject to her, and that the light 
of her doctrine may be carried to the most distant 
climes.' ' She fervently prepared herself for the 
jubilee granted to the faithful in 1745. In her 
first transports on this occasion, she said, 6C What 
a great mercy, 0 my God, that you have taught 
me how to avail myself of this indulgence ! Alas ! 
all my life I have been grossly ignorant of my 
christian duties." She purified herself anew by 
a confession made with the most lively sorrow, 
complied with the other conditions, passed the 
night before the communion in the greatest devo- 
tion, and she approached the holy table like the 
Cananean woman, "Too happy am I," said she, 
" if I can collect the crumbs which fall from the 
table of my divine Master." 

The graces she received on this occasion were 
so great, that she adeemed to be changed into a 



340 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY* 



new creature. Divine love elevated, ennobled^ 
sanctified her smallest actions; it became the 
soul of her conduct, the motive of her renuncia- 
tion, of vanity and self-will, and her stimulus 
to do on every occasion what she judged most 
perfect. " My God!" she exclaimed, "I languish 
with love ; why cannot I die for having loved you 
too late?" Docile in the most perfect degree, she 
never testified any resistance; but when they 
obliged her to quit the foot of the altar, lest she 
might prejudice her health, her only desire was to 
spend her days and nights there, in repairing 
the outrages every day offered to this august 
sacrament. 

For many years after her conversion, however 
ardent her love, she held herself at the feet of 
Jesus as another Magdalen; scarcely did she 
"touch the hem of his garment," she did not even 
approach often to the holy table ; but ten years 
before her death she felt such a hunger after 
this divine food, that she obtained permission 
to communicate four or five times in the week. 
" I know and feel my extreme unworthiness," did 
she say, " nevertheless I shall go and receive my 
divine Master as often as I am permitted. The 
days on which I cannot receive him sacramental- 
ly, I shall unite myself to him by the bonds of 
faith and love. When the holy sacrament was 
exposed, as generally occurred on great festivals, 
she seemed no longer to be of the earth. Before 
the throne of the Lamb, "which is truly the place 
of sanctification," she gave free scope to her sighs 
and tears ; hours flew away like moments. If any 
religious was prevented by her occupations from 
adoring the holy victim, at the hour prescribed 
Madam reckoned herself too happy in filling her 
place. She had a singular devotion too > to the 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



341 



sacred heart of Jesus, she communicated every 
Friday in his honour, and after the spirit of the 
association, in which she inscribed herself, she 
entirely consecrated the first Fridays of the month 
to this holy devotion. 

It is impossible to love God without loving our 
neighbour ; hence Madam Le Bosuf evinced that 
ardent charity which characterises the true chris- 
tian. Although naturally choleric, she had so far 
conquered herself since her conversion, that meek- 
ness seemed to repose on her lips ; her tone, her 
air, her manner, were under the government of 
the most perfect charity. She shared in the 
afflictions of others, consoled them, encouraged 
them, and spoke to them with such unction of 
sufferings, that she induced them to love the 
cross. Her compassion was specially manifested 
towards the sick, and her charity in their regard 
triumphed over all the repugnances of nature. 
The lay-sisters were above all the objects of her 
solicitude ; she took a singular pleasure in serving 
them. The whole community bear testimony 
to the cares she lavished on a certain person 
who, in addition to the infirmities of old age, 
had a most disgusting disease. She often led her 
to her apartment, tried to console her, washed her 
feet, and performed for her the most humiliating 
services. She loved and esteemed all the reli- 
gious, but without maDifesting to any of them a 
too human affection. She sometimes abstained 
from their company in recreation, (through humili- 
ty), believing herself unworthy to associate with 
the spouses of Ghrist. 

Her charity for the poor, even during her wan- 
derings, was very great ; it was that which drew 
upon her the graces she afterwards received. It 
is related that, while yet a worldling, a most mis- 



342 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



erable object haying asked her for alms, Madam 
gave him a considerable .sum, and recommended 
herself to his prayers. After promising he would 
never forget her, before God, the poor creature 
said he had no friend on earth to assuage hi* 
misery, and that he was quite abandoned. To 
this she replied with great emotion, " Well, I 
cannot do much for you, but as long as I live, 
though I were at the other end of the world, I 
shall give you ten crowns a year." She kept her 
word, and this little sum was the fruit of the 
privations which she imposed on herself in a 
spirit of penance. 

Little accustomed to labour wdiile in the world, 
she recognized in her seclusion the obligation 
imposed on all the children of Adam, to occupy 
themselves usefully; hence she worked with great 
diligence, she sometimes made stockings for little 
children, which she caused to be distributed at 
Christmas in honour of the holy infancy of Jesus. 
" When I left the world," said she, " I thought 
time would hang heavily on my hands ; I proposed 
to myself to cultivate flowers, and to procure me 
a thousand little amusements; but really now ? 
that I taste the happiness of labouring for my 
salvation, it flies so rapidly, that scarcely have I 
sufficient to perform my most essential duties. 

She sacrificed all for love of peace ; she heaped 
benefits on those who injured her, and never 
spoke of them but in strains of eulogy : she re- 
garded slander as an unworthy vice, and when 
she could not excuse the action, she excused the 
intention. She never spoke of the injustices she 
endured but when obliged, and then she said she 
merited these and even greater sufferings. She 
had such a spirit of prayer, that she passed several 
hours in this holy exercise without perceiving 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



343 



them, and yet she complained of the little progress 
she made in this science* "My imagination is so 
liable to distraction," said she, "that I profit not 
of the precious time of prayer. This I attribute 
to my sins and great unworthiness; all my resource 
is to cast myself into the bosom of the Father of 
mercies, to render him a thousand thanks for the 
graces wherewith he has loaded me, and to offer 
him the merits of his divine Son to supply my 
darkness and my wants. I feel myself extremely 
weak despite of my desire to elevate myself, and 
I always remain at an immense distance from this 
sacred object." She never left meditation with- 
out new resolutions to overcome herself. " Let 
God retrench and destroy in me," said she, "let 
him humble and annihilate me, provided I have 
the happiness of seeing and possessing him, I am 
quite content. My penance should be continued, 
my tears should never cease to flow until I cease 
to live." Prayer was her support, and her only 
consolation in all the interior or exterior trials 
she endured. 

In order to be able to make pilgrimages in 
honour of the Holy Virgin, without leaving her 
retreat, she caused a little oratory to be construct- 
ed in the upper room of the monastery, and placed 
therein a picture of this Blessed Queen ; she named 
this place Our Lady of Hearts, whither she came 
every day to pour out her soul before God, and to ask 
of him, like another Monica, through the interces- 
sion of Mary, the conversion of her son. She still 
loved him tenderly notwithstanding his follies. 
"My son," wrote she to him, in sending him a 
picture of the Blessed Virgin, "behold your Mo- 
ther, the Mother of mercy; wear it with devotion, 
and never omit to say every day the 'Hail Mary' 
five times, to obtain grace to avoid the occasions of 



344 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



sin." He received the letter with respect, and 
practised faithfully what »he required. When he 
returned from Spain, he confessed that he sup- 
posed himself* indebted to this image, and the 
prayers of his mother, for his safe preservation 
from many dangers. A priest, who for a long 
time served the monastery, was taken very ill; the 
community, greatly alarmed, had recourse to 
Madam Le Bosuf. " The physicians despair of 
our father," said they, "perhaps he has already 
expired." "No," replied she, calmly, "let us 
recur to prayer, let us go to Mary, our Mother, 
and you will see he will recover, for the manifes- 
tation of the divine power, and the honour of the 
Blessed Virgin." The effect soon followed, that 
very night the invalid was declared out of danger. 

During the illness of the Dauphin, (as they 
term the eldest son of the king of France), in 
1752, she made a vow in his name to the holy 
Virgin, and his recovery followed. She did the 
same for many others, but fearing the success 
which attended her supplications might nourish 
her self-love, she was only induced by the advice 
of her confessor to make use of the gift. 

To the truly penitent she saw it was necessary 
to go to the source of the evil, and to cut it off at 
the root ; hence she ever immolated herself, her 
passions and affections, always mindful of the sins 
of her youth she thought no penance sufficient to 
repair them. It was to supply her insufficiency 
in this respect that she obtained permission to 
make the following act : — 

This 29th June, feast of SS. Peter and Paul , after 
receiving my God in his holy sacrament, I make him 
a total offering of myself, in the amiable Heart of 
Jesus, under the shadoiv of his protection in the adora- 
ble Sacrament of the Altar y with the hope of his 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



345 



grace, under the protection of the holy Virgin, of St. 
Joseph, of the nine choirs^of Angels, and of my Angel 
Guardian ; I devote myself to him in life and death , 
as irrevocably consecrated to his love and blessed will. 
In union with my Saviour s sacrifice, whence mine ■ 
alone derives its merit, I sacrifice my parents, friends, 
life and health, no longer wishing to live or die, but 
for God, the only love of my heart. I submit, in 
order to please him, io oil the crosses and humiliations 
he shall send me, and to all those which I shall meet 
in the ivay of salvation. I renew my baptismal vows, 
with a thousand regrets for having violated them. I 
desire and implore a great confidence in my God. I 
fear nothing but to offend him. I say with all my 
heart an eternal fiat voluntas tua,* and only ash the 
grace of final perseverance, ivhich shall put me in pos- 
session of my God for ever. 

(Signed) M. E. Tiucolet Le Bceuf. 

The heaviest cross of Madam Le Boeuf was 
the misconduct of her son. We before related 
her great desire of his conversion. The letters 
she wrote to him when in Spain, whither he re- 
tired to live with less restraint, were full of the 
most sage counsels and pressing exhortations. 
About this period she lost almost all her rela- 
tions. In these sad moments she was on the 
point of sinking ; but, in the spirit of sacrifice 
and abnegation to which she had habituated her- 
self, she soon said, " All that God does is divinely 
ordained ; the less consolation I shall have on 
earth, the more will this good Father give me of 
it in heaven. " But the Lord wished to afiiict 
her still more sensibly. Not one of those friends 
who died, though very rich, left her any property, 
fearing. her son, on whom it would devolve, might 
* Thy will be done. 



346 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



abuse it. Always submissive, she said to God, 
" Lord, I accept for my son and myself all priva- 
tion of temporal goods, provided you grant us the 
grace of possessing you eternally.' 7 But she was 
soon to receive the fruit of her prayers, for this 
son's conversion. Already she perceived by his 
answers to her letters, that God was moving his 
heart. A severe illness which attacked him, 
caused him to return to France. He arrived at 
Dijon in 1754, and was received by his mother 
with transports of affection. The crucifix, the 
sight of which had begun the work of her own 
conversion, was placed in his apartment, and 
nothing was omitted to induce him to embrace 
virtue. At length, touched with the wretched 
state of his soul, he resolved on returning to God, 
and atoning for his past disorders. With this 
view he made a retreat in the Jesuit's college, 
and ever after, till his death, which occurred 
in about eighteen months, resolutely walked in the 
ways of holy penance. The crucifix, before alluded 
to, was in his hands at his last moments, he em- 
braced it with transports of love and contrition, 
exclaiming, "Lord, have pity on a contrite and 
humble heart which hopes in your mercy." He 
was quite pleased to die before his mother, know- 
ing, as he said, that she would continue her prayers 
for him, to which he already ascribed his conver- 
sion 

Madam Le Bceuf felt his death exceedingly : 
but always supported by her faith, she said, "If 
my son died in his sins what should I suffer? 
should I not now be more occupied in blessing 
God for his mercies towards him than in shedding 
tears ? I shall procure for his eternal repose all 
the suffrages I can, and henceforward prepare for 
death. Hitherto I have done nothing for God, I 



CATHOLIC BIOORAPIir. 



347 



shall now offer Eim for the rest of my life a sacri- 
fice of praise. 11 

To prepare for death, she made a retreat of ten 
days : she came out of it laden with graces, and 
more determined than ever to live to God. Her 
love of penance increased as she approached the 
end of her course ; her confessor was often obliged 
to moderate her ardour for corporal mortifications. 
She used to say that God expressly conducted her 
to a house wherein great austerities were prac- 
tised, that she might share in them. Her health 
was extremely delicate, yet the tenderness with 
which they treated her greatly afflicted her. When 
they served her up any thing dainty, they were 
obliged to have recourse to her docility, to prevail 
with her to use it. Though absolutely forbidden 
by physicians to fast or abstain, yet she sometimes 
prevailed on them to let her do so, for she always 
persuaded herself she did nothing to appease the 
justice of God. The subjection of will to which 
she condemned herself after having so long en- 
joyed her liberty, should be sufficient to inspire 
her with confidence. She followed all the rules of 
the monastery, and surpassed the most exact 
religious in fidelity to the first sound of the bell, 
and this even for nineteen years, which were ter- 
minated by long and painful infirmities. For a 
length of time she was obliged to have recourse to 
frequent bleedings to prevent apoplexy. Ten 
months before her death she was attacked by a 
putrid fever, the effects of which confined her to 
bed for five entire* months. However great her 
sufferings a murmur never escaped. Always mild, 
peaceful, and recollected, she did not even inquire 
the opinion of the physicians as to her state. 
One day that she appeared in her agony percei- 
ving the nuns shed tears, "Alas!" said she, 



348 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



"what is our exile on earth? allow me to quit 
it without afflicting yourselves. What have I 
been but a burden to you? Implore the divine 
mercy in my favour, and do not, my dear friends, 
oppose my happiness. If God receives me into 
his blessed kingdom, I shall ask him for every 
good gift in reward for your great charity to me, 
an unworthy sinner.' ' 

Suddenly she became convalescent, and the 
community testified the most lively joy ; the pious 
invalid herself was the only person afflicted. But 
her convalescence was long and painful; her 
extreme weakness and long confinement to bed 
occasioned her great agonies, which gave new 
exercise to her patience. In this sad state the 
holy Eucharist was her only consolation ; as she 
was not sick enough to receive it by way of viati- 
cum, and yet too weak to wait till morning, the 
community always anxious to satisfy her pious 
desires, had her communicated at midnight. 

Her improvement was but of short duration; 
on .the 11th December she was attacked with a 
violent cholic: all saw her end was near. She 
preserved her usual tranquillity, and confessed 
with the greatest coolness and deliberation. Next 
day she demanded the holy viaticum. They 
assured her it was yet time enough, and that it 
was her desire of dying which made her appre- 
hend it was so near ; but she begged there might 
be no delay, assuring them they would soon see 
she had reason to be urgent. She prepared for 
the sacred rite with increased fervour; before she 
was administered, she asked pardon of the whole 
community with great humility. Her danger 
increasing, she received the extreme unction, and 
with transports of joy pressed her crucifix to her 
lips, saying the moment was now come wherein 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



349 



she would never more offend her divine Master. 
She caused the image of the Holy Virgin, to 
whom she had always so much devotion, to be 
placed in her bed. After the recital of 44 The 
recommendation of the soul," her confessor approach- 
ed to animate her confidence ; she said that this 
sentiment in her exceeded that of fear. A little 
after, perceiving some alteration in her counte- 
nance, he asked her if any thing pained her. 
64 Yes, reverend father," said she, "my pains are 
abated, and I fear I shall recover." 44 Never 
fear," said the priest, 44 your illness is declared 
mortal ; this very day you shall go to enjoy God." 
This restored her peace, which she preserved till 
then, and when all-absorbed in God, with her 
lips fastened to the crucifix, she expired the 14th 
December, 1759. At her own request she was 
buried in the habit of St. Dominick, and in the 
cemetery of the religious. 



I 




351 



THE 

LIFE OF THE VIRTUOUS MARY DIAZ. 
From tlie French of Abbe Carron. 



"When comfort shall be taken away from thee, do not 
presently despair: but wait with humility and patience for 
the heavenly visit, for GGd is able to restore thee a greater 
consolation."— Kempis. 



Mary Diaz was born at Vite, a little village of 
Old Castile, in Spain, of poor, but virtuous 
parents. They strove to give her a Christian 
education, and the little Mary profited so well by 
their pious lessons, that she soon became the edi- 
fication of the villagers. From reason's dawn 
she was remarkable for her tender piety, assiduity 
at labour, and filial affection ; her docility, obedi- 
ence, modesty, and fervour in the church, already 
evinced what she would one day become. 

As she advanced in years, her progress in vir- 
tue became more striking. She carefully shunned 
those plays and sports which could wound the 
delicacy of her conscience, and while her young 
companions amused themselves, she conversed 
interiorily with God, or listened to the words of 
life which he never refuses to speak to the hum- 
ble, simple, and docile. Nevertheless, her devo- 
tion was not gloomy, repulsive, nor of that melan- 
choly cast which often brings piety into discredit; 



352 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



the peace of her soul beamed on her countenance, 
and lent to her virtue additional charms. 

Mary never sought to be dispensed from any 
duty, under pretence of having more time for 
prayer, though she found in this holy exercise her 
greatest delight. Animated with an holy and 
warm affection for her parents, she cheerfully 
divided with them the assiduous and painful toils 
of a country life. For forty years she was their 
joy and consolation, while her virtues rendered 
her to the surrounding neighbourhood, " the good 
odour of Jesus Christ." It was truly admirable 
to see how well she united indefatigable labour 
with a spirit of recollection ; and a perfect equal- 
ity of temper with the unceasing attention which 
the decrepid state of her parents required. She 
was ever most careful to purify herself from her 
trivial faults in the sacrament of penance ; and 
the holy Eucharist, in which she often participa- 
ted, was to her a source of the most precious 
graces. 

God having by a happy death recompensed the 
virtuous life of her parents, Mary determined to 
give herself wholly to him. She distributed to 
the poor the little means she possessed, with a 
generosity that evinced her unbounded confidence 
in Providence, and shortly after set out for Avila, 
where she entered into the service of a lady of 
rank and fortune. Simple as the dove, she soon 
became an object of scorn to her fellow-servants ; 
they loaded her with injuries and contempt, and 
often pushed their malice so far, as to refuse her 
the portion of food which was allotted her. They 
gathered even from her piety, new motives for 
treating her with cruelty. 

The poor creature bore their unkindness and in. 
justice with unalterable sweetness and patience, 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



353 



and never betrayed the least symptom of ill-hu- 
mour or discontent. Affable and mild towards 
her persecutors, she suffered all the pain they oc- 
casioned in silence, for the love of Christ ; so that 
six years passed in this manner before her mis- 
tress became acquainted with her sufferings. This 
seems extraordinary ; but the like often happens 
among ourselves. Many of our modern matrons, 
though pious in appearance, are often very careless 
of their servants, and negligent about their do- 
mestics ; such was the case with this lady, but as 
soon as she was reminded of her duty, she speedily 
remedied the evil, and gave Mary sensible marks 
of esteem and confidence. 

This series of afflictions acquired great merits 
for the generous Mary; for the true Christian 
draws from his sufferings advantages the most 
precious. They became, indeed, for this daugh- 
ter of the cross, a source of abundant graces. 
Long before this period, she had consecrated her- 
self to God, by the vow of chastity; she now 
wished to draw the knot still closer, by making 
the vows of obedience and poverty.* She was 
most submissive to, and candid with her confes- 
sor ; revealing to him all the views and designs 
with which she was inspired. He approved of all, 
but was unwilling to receive her vow of obedience : 
however, this did not hinder her from practising it 
in the greatest perfection: no person could be 
more obedient than she was. Thus she evinced 
the solidity of her devotion, and preserved herself 
from the many dangers to which self-will conducts 
in the spiritual life. 

Feeling that our Lord called her to closer re- 
tirement, and anxious to correspond with the 

* None of these vows should be made without consulting 
our director. 

23 



354 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



sweet attractives of grace, she begged and obtain- 
ed permission of Alvarez de Meridoza, then 
Bishop of Avila, to lodge in a little chamber 
which opened into the church. There it was her 
chief delight to pass the day and night in adora- 
tion before the Holy Sacrament. Prayer and 
mortification were now almost her sole occupation. 
She seldom went abroad, except for confession to 
the church of the Jesuits, and to visit some pious 
ladies, who, though of high rank, delighted in cul- 
tivating the acquaintance of this humble servant 
of God. Desirous to profit by her pious converse, 
they contrived to find out her residence, so that 
Mary had now the mortification to see her holy 
exercises interrupted by their visits. But it was 
only leaving God for God ; for her visitors were 
greatly edified, and often returned home amazed 
at her great lights on the mysteries of faith and 
the secrets of the interior life, which she could 
only receive from the Spirit of God. 

Her humility (and we know that this is the 
basis of all virtue) was now exposed to great 
danger, from the esteem in which she was held. 
Let us bless her divine Protector, who, " jealous 
of her soul with great jealousy,'' preserved his 
own work, placing against public veneration the 
counterpoise of dryness, disgusts, temptations, 
and interior pains ; sometimes permitting the 
devil to appear to her in frightful shapes.. Mary 
supported with great courage and resignation this 
painful state. She contented herself by saying, 
in all the simplicity of a saint, " Ah ! Lord, sure 
you will not abandon me, since I have given you 
all I had to bestow." It is a great consolation for 
souls whom our Lord tries in the crucible, to meet 
confessors who understand the ways of, and act 
in concert with, the Spirit of God ; and this was 



CATEGLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



not withheld from Mary Diaz, through the great 
mercy of God. Her director was no other than 
the celebrated Father Balthasar Alvarez, of the 
Society of Jesus, a person of consummate sancti- 
ty, and endowed in an eminent degree with the 
discernment of spirits. It was he who assured 
St. Teresa, whose confessor he was, that her 
visions, &c, which were then a problem in Spain, 
were of the Divine Spirit ; and she declares in her 
writings, that she never treated with him of any 
state of prayer, however sublime, with which he 
was not acquainted. 

This good fatehr soon saw that Mary Diaz was 
a strong and generous soul, who needed not the 
milk of children, but could live on the hard bread 
of tribulation and pain. Hence, in order to make 
her die to herself, and to perfect in her the work 
of God, he exercised in her every species of mor- 
tification, and treated her with great severity. 
She experienced nothing from him at times, but 
reprimands and humiliations. Sometimes he re- 
fused to answer her questions, or replied to them 
so harshly, that she was overwhelmed with grief. 
One day that he saw her enter the church with 
some new article of dress, he called her, and, 
after a severe rebuke, commanded her to go and 
leave this superfluous article in the middle of the 
street. The good Mary went instantly and obey- 
ed the command, and then returned to speak to 
him: whereupon he forbade her to go to commu- 
nion that day, because of her pride, as he termed 
it. To this second trial she submitted without a 
murmur. 

The wise director took care that self-love might 
not find wherewith to feed itself -in these occa- 
sions ; for he persuaded his penitent that humilia- 
tions were particularly necessary for her. and not 



356 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



so mncli for trials of her virtue, but as means to 
cure her pride. He but too well knew that many 
would bear to be mortified well enough, so that 
their vanity was flattered by the hope that it was 
only to try them instead of to cure them. 

But though Mary Diaz firmly believed that 
this harsh treatment best suited her, she was 
tempted to abandon Father Balthasar and choose 
a milder confessor; but she vigorously resisted 
the temptation, and resolved never to leave him. 

Being greatly annoyed by nocturnal fears, she 
got a little girl to sleep in her room; but the 
Father having reproached her with thus showing 
a want of confidence in God, her Protector, she 
immediately dismissed the little one. The pious 
visits of which we before spoke, did not entirely 
meet his approbation, and he recommended Mary 
to keep her retreat more closely. She obeyed 
instantly (a single word sufficed for her) and 
absolutely forbade herself all such entertainments, 
though good in themselves, and productive of the 
spiritual advancement of others. These persons 
complained bitterly of the man of God, and accu- 
sed him of extreme severity. To a soul less hum- 
ble than Mary, these murmurs would furnish a 
specious pretext to throw off the yoke of holy obe- 
dience ; besides she had great zeal and charity, 
and strong fears of not employing the talent 
which God had given her of benefiting others. 
Nevertheless, she undertook his defence, and said 
it would be unjust to blame Father Balthasar — ■ 
" He has not absolutely commanded me not to 
receive or pay visits," said she to those ladies, 
" he only advised me to be more solitary and 
retired — and is he not right ? Would not such a 
course best suit my ignorance and rusticity?" 

Notwithstanding such unlimited obedience, the 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



357 



Father became not more indulgent ; whether it 
was that Mary might not contract for him too 
great an attachment, or for other reasons, he 
sometimes obliged her to confess to other clergy- 
men; in which he no doubt evinced great 
prudence, as the contrary practice is subject to 
many inconveniences. The best founded confi- 
dence may be entirely lost or lessened for a time, 
and though it were only in one point, would it not 
be a great folly to expose one's self to tormenting 
anxiety in such an important matter as that of 
confession! Hence, in order to prevent abuses, 
and, perhaps sacrilege, it is advisable not to be 
bound to one confessor, (not that we approve of 
the conduct of those who are continually changing 
directors, which is another abuse). Such was 
Father Balthasar's rule ; and though Mary Diaz 
wished there might be an exception in her case, 
through the desire of increasing her merits, and of 
discharging his own duty, he would not depart 
therefrom. 

Another time he forbade her to approach the 
holy communion (and her desire of it was very 
great) until the next time she made her confes- 
sion to him. The following day she went early to 
the confessional, that she might not be disap- 
pointed. Several others came after, to whom, 
contrary to custom, the Father attended first, and 
when the clock struck eleven, he rose up and 
desired Mary to defer her confession till next day. 
But he treated her next day in exactly the same 
manner, and continued to do so for twenty days ; 
however, she never murmured nor felt chagrined, 
though great her desire of the sacraments. Her 
virtue now deserved and obtained its crown, for 
the man of God admiring her obedience and doci- 



358 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



lity, gave her after this trial, permission to receive 
the holy Eucharist, every day. 

Among those who profess piety, how few are 
those who would, willingly submit to such trials. 
Some would say the confessor was disgusted with 
them, and that they could not expect in future 
the same care and attention. Others would say, 
this priest is a respecter of persons ; he would not 
treat us rudely if we were distinguished for birth, 
or wealth, or talents. While the more moderate 
would allege, that they could not penetrate the 
motives of such extraordinary conduct*; and since 
frequent communion was their whole strength and 
consolation, it was strange to deprive them of it. 
But persons who would murmur and reason in 
this sort, have nothing of devotion but the shell. 
If closely examined, they will be found full of self- 
love, fond of self-will, presumptuous, vain, s)aves 
of their humours, inexorable and harsh towards 
others, easy and complying towards themselves, 
full of attachments inconsistent with true piety, 
and making devotion consist in long prayers and 
ceremonies, and frequent participation of the 
sacraments. What a gross illusion ! 

True, the holy communion is one of the most 
powerful means to support the weak, to cure the 
sick and imperfect, and preserve the strong. But 
in its participation, we should be ever guided by 
humble obedience to our director; such was the 
sentiment of Mary Diaz. 

The delay of her communion only served to 
purify her motives and inflame her love ; in fact, 
she became quite transported with amorous ecsta- 
sy, in expectation of her Beloved. It would be 
impossible to describe the glowing ardours and 
holy confidence with which she received her Lord. 
Her faith was so lively that he sometimes, in re- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



359 



compense, manifested himself visibly to her ? and 
this happened so often that she imagined it was 
common to others, till one day as she mentioned 
it in all simplicity, some persons expressed their 
amazement at a thing so unusual. 

The principal fruit she drew from communion 
was an insatiable love of sufferings and humili- 
ations. On these matters, so interesting to a fol- 
lower of Christ crucified, she had a conversation 
with her confessor, which deserves to be narrated. 
Declaring to him her sentiments, she distin- 
guished five species of suffering by which a per- 
son might glorify God: 1st, the inclemency of 
the seasons — heats, colds, wind, rain, storms and 
tempests; however painful, she said persons 
should joyfully submit to sufferings of this kind, 
since it was God who made times and seasons. 
The winter is very cold at Avila, and as Mary 
was thinly clad, and dwelt in a room open on all 
sides, she suffered extremely. One day, that she 
spoke to God of her suffering, he said, "Is it not 
I who made the seasons, how then can you com- 
plain ?" 

In the second class, she placed sickness, infir- 
mity, hunger, thirst, labours, fatigues, poverty ; 
all these should be borne, she said, as the just 
punishment of sin. 

The third sort, and one by which she thought a 
person might derive great profit, consists in bear- 
ing patiently the defects of others. St. Paul 
seems to place all perfection in this article — 
"Bear ye one another's burdens," said he, "and 
thus you will fulfil the law of Christ.' 7 And, 0 ! 
how melancholy that many Christians, in other 
respects exemplary, fail in this point ! Some ap- 
pear angels abroad; but if followed into the 
bosom of their families, are all sourness and ill- 



360 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



temper. What a pity^not to mate one generous 
effort to bear every thing from others, and give 
them no cause of vexation or chagrin. 

Under the fourth head, she placed the censure 
and contempt, -which the misconduct of friends or 
relatives entails ; though it is certainly unjust to 
censure a whole family for the faults of an indivi- 
dual, and great virtue is necessary to bear such a 
humiliation. In the last class, she places spiri- 
tual desolations, distractions, perplexities, and, in 
fine, every trial of this kind, whether it como 
from God, or men, or devils, by his permission. 
It is in these afflictions, said she, that true virtue 
appears in all its lustre, since the soul here finds 
her cross, where she would naturally seek her 
consolation. 

What wonderful discernment is displayed in 
these maxims! One could scarcely suppose a 
poor illiterate villager capable of such judicious 
reflections, if we were not convinced that true 
piety, so far from enervating reason or lessening 
talent, enlightens the one and perfects the other. 
Indeed, her spiritual Father said, that if he had 
been useful to her in the attainment of perfection, 
she had been no less so to him by the communica-r 
tion of her great lights. 

Mary was now in her 80th year, her body atten- 
uated by sickness and continual macerations, but 
her judgment quite sound, and her heart glowing 
in the furnace of divine love. Sometime before 
her death, she paid a visit to St. Teresa, with 
whom she was united by the closest ties of holy 
friendship. 

It is delightful to hear the servants of God con- 
verse together: regarding the world as nothing- 
ness and vanity, Paradise, or rather the God of 
Paradise alone, occupies their heart and absorbs 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



361 



their faculties and powers. Of him only do they 
converse ; his ineffable perfections are the subject 
of their entertainment. On this occasion, St. 
Teresa said, "You charm me, dear Mary; how 
enchanted you must be, seeing yourself now at 
the end of your course, and ready to receive the 
promised crown." — "Indeed, Mother Teresa," 
said Mary, "I am by no means elated at the pros- 
pect." — "What," said the saint, "are you not 
anxious to go and enjoy God?" — "No," said Diaz, 
"I have no desire whatsoever; but if it was law- 
ful to wish, I would desire to remain suffering 
longer on earth, to give my God a proof of my 
love, for, dear mother, eternity is long enough to 
enjoy, and time is too short to suffer.''' 

Our Lord, as is usual with him, amply reward- 
ed these generous sentiments, in speedily crown- 
ing the merits of his servant by a most happy 
death. She expired in peace. Her dissolution 
was occasioned as much by the violence of divine 
love as by the decay of nature. Her sanctity 
rendered her memory venerable to all who knew 
her. God grant that the example of her virtues 
may excite us to labour for their acquirement. 
#May we imitate her humility, obedience, patience, 
and love of solitude, which St. Ephrem styles, 
"the ladder to heaven, the school of prayer, the 
citadel of every virtue." 



3G3 



THE LIFE OF JOHN BAPTIST GASTON" 
DE RENTY. 

John Baptist de Renty, of the house of Artois, 
only son of Charles de Renty, was born at the 
Chateau de Renty, in Normandy, anno 1611. 
When he attained the age of seven years, he ac- 
companied his mother to Paris, He commenced 
his course of humanity at the college of Navarre, 
and prosecuted them with the Jesuits at Caen. 
Two persons were charged with the care of his 
youth — the one, an ecclesiastic, as preceptor ; the 
other, a Protestant, in quality of governor. The 
principles of the latter would have proved ex- 
tremely dangerous to the young baron, had not 
Providence sedulously watched over him. In after 
life, reflecting on this danger to which he was 
exposed, he used to say in the fulness of his gra- 
titude, " From my mother's womb, 0 Lord, thou 
hast preserved me." From Caen he proceeded to 
the university at Paris, where he distinguished 
himself for his application and success in his stu- 
dies, particularly in the mathematics, on which 
he composed several treatises. But what was the 
motive of his studies ? unfortunately no other 
than that of obtaining for himself a name, and 
acquiring a great reputation. This occupied 
him to the exclusion of the great affair of salva- 
tion. 

Having one day gone to the person of whom he 
generally purchased books, the man offered him 
for sale the "Imitation of Christ ;" but de Renty 



384 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



refused it. Some days after he again proposed it 
to him, and the thoughtless young nobleman 
yielded partly through complaisance ; but, wonder- 
ful to relate, he had no sooner read this inimitable 
work, than his eyes were opened, and his heart in- 
flamed with love for his divine Master. The grace 
of God changed him into a new man ; from that 
moment he resolved to sacrifice all to secure 
his sanctification. In the beginning his fervour 
carried him too far, for seeing no obstacle to his 
designs, he resolved to bury himself in retreat, 
and under a tattered garb withdrew from his 
paternal home, and wrote the following letter to 
his father from his solitude : 

"Sir, — I doubt not that my change of state 
afflicts you. Nature makes us sigh over the loss 
of those whom we hold dear. Man cannot com- 
mand the first emotions of sudden .anger, but I 
entreat you not to listen to the voice of passion. 
The finger of God is here. I have wrestled with 
myself these two years — I have resisted grace. 
Nov/, to be faithful to its dictates, I find it neces- 
sary to renounce the world ; I fear my own 
weakness would ruin all were I to remain there. 
The maxims of Christ and those of the world are 
so opposite that I imagine I should soon abandon 
the former did I not bury myself in seclusion* 
It may be said that I could be very devout and 
yet remain at court ; but, Sir, what satisfaction 
would you feel in seeing me trying to establish 
reform in those brilliant assemblies where there 
is so little prospect of success. I should be an 
object of mockery and contempt, and however 
willing I might be to endure humiliations for God, 
I think I should give you more satisfaction in 
withdrawing wholly from society. 

" When we wish to avoid sin we must shun its 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



365 



occasions. Ah ! should we risk our souls for the 
whole world? Let us then leave the dead to bury 
the dead, and renounce all to follow Jesus in spirit 
and truth." 

The father of de Henty did not wish to contra- 
dict the designs of heaven on his son. However 
it was not God who guided the first steps of the 
latter in the way of virtue ; he was destined by 
Providence to edify in public life, and his project 
of retreat was only the effect of first fervour. 
His father sent a person for him, who discovered 
him at Ambois, and led him back to the Chateau de 
Renty; he there proved how sincere was his 
return to God, and became so perfect that he soon 
gained universal confidence, and the nobility of 
his bailiwick wished to make him their deputy to 
the parliament of Normandy, though he was then 
but^nineteen years old. He perfectly fulfilled the 
expectation of his constituents, displayed great 
wisdom and zeal for the public good in the de- 
bates, and conciliated the esteem of all. But he 
saw danger in the praises which were lavished 
upon him; and hence, so far from being elated by 
them, he tried to forget them, and as soon as he 
could return to his chateau, occupied himself 
in rebuilding the parish church, and presided 
over the pious enterprise. To avoid interruption 
in his religious exercises, he rose every morning 
at four o'clock, spent an hour in prayer and medi- 
tation, and then superintended the workmen who 
laboured at the sacred edifice. This occupation 
removed him from many dangerous occasions, at 
the same time it prepared his soul for the graces 
which were to recompense his zeal for the honour 
of his divine Master. 

When he reached his twenty-second year, his 
parents caused him to marry the daughter of the 



368 CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 

Count of Dunes, a lady of great virtue. God 
blessed their union by the birth of five children, 
three sons and two daughters. 

Baron de Rentj served his country with honour 
during the war of Lorraine, and passed for one of 
the greatest officers of his day ; the Duke of Saxe 
Weymar among many others honoured him parti- 
cularly ; but it was not alone a christian hero the 
Lord wished to form in his person. Let us con- 
template him at the head of his troops, where he 
was never wanting to his pious exercises. His 
first care, on halting at a place, was to visit the 
holy Sacrament. He generally took up his quar- 
ters in some religious house, and whilst his mili- 
tary comrades delivered themselves to the pursuit 
of pleasure, and often of debauchery, he was con- 
stantly seen performing his duties as a christian 
and a soldier. 

He was a constant friend of justice and order, 
and would not suffer in his men a departure from 
either. Before they marched he enquired of the 
persons on whom they were billeted, whether there 
might be any infraction of this rule, and instantly 
satisfied all reasonable complaints. One day when 
he was already mounted on his horse, a poor wo- 
man complained that a soldier had stolen a shirt 
from her. The baron assembled the company, and 
having discovered the delinquent, caused him to 
deliver the ill-gotten booty. This rigour was cen- 
sured by men of quality ; but de Renty was recom- 
pensed by the testimony of his own conscience. 
His charity once saved him and one hundred and 
twenty men of his party in one of the villages 
which had been desolated by the war : he disco- 
vered a poor woman, who, not having strength to 
retreat with her neighbour, was on the point of 
perishing with sickness .and want; the baron pro- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



367 



cured the relief of her spiritual and corporal wants, 
and rendered her every assistance. Touched with 
gratitude, she declared to him that the troops of 
the Duke of Lorraine were that night to surprise 
him and his men ; he at once gave the signal for 
departure, and thus saved his party. 

As faithful to God in the tumult of the camp 
as in the bosom of his family, he preserved him- 
self from the many dangers which accompany tho 
profession of arms. He was many times placed 
in most critical circumstances, but preferring God 
to all, his choice was very soon made between duty 
and the opinion of the world ; he never hesitated 
a moment to sacrifice his honour and reputation 
to the divine law. Being one day challenged by a 
gentleman who complained of him unjustly, he 
answered that God and the king forbade this sort 
of combat, and that he was resolved not to accept 
the challenge; but as his refusal proceeded not 
from fear, but from a principle of religion, he 
would every day go whither his affairs called him, 
and defend himself if attacked. The adverse 
party, listening only to his passion, surprised him 
and attacked him ; but he defended himself with 
so much address, that he obliged the enemy to 
surrender his arms. As generous after the victo- 
ry as he had been modest before the combat, he 
preserved inviolably tho secret of his triumph, 
which would have covered him with glory before 
men. 

In all ranks and states there are to be found 
from time to time, some privileged souls whom 
the Lord conducts by extraordinary ways — souls 
which men may admire but cannot imitate ; such 
was de Renty, for in his twenty-seventh year, 
having assisted at a mission of the Oratorians, ho 
was so touched by grace, that he resolved to sacri- 



3hS CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 

fice all for the attainment of a high degree of 
perfection. This noble project lie lost no time in 
executing ; he withdrew from court, renounced his 
prospects of advancement, and unreservedly de- 
voted himself to the duties of piety and charity. 

The soul of the just man is a sanctuary where 
the most sublime sentiments and heroic desires 
flourish. We shall penetrate the interior of this 
servant of Christ before we follow the plan of his 
exterior conduct ; the disposition of his soul was 
that of a perfect abandonment, and humble sub- 
mission to the divine will. As to the employment 
of his time, he every day rose at five o'clock 
after passing part of the night in prayer ; his first 
sentiment on awaking was one of profound anni- 
hilation before the majesty of God, and of union 
with and adoration of his divine Son and Holy 
Spirit ; he afterwards prostrated himself to reve- 
rence the incarnation of the Word, consecrating 
himself to the infant Jesus, and saluting his good 
angel, St. John Baptist, and St. Teresa, he pre- 
pared to go to the chapel of his chateau. In going 
thither he passed by a saloon, on the chimney of 
which was an image of the Holy Virgin and her 
infant Jesus ; he knelt before it, ldssed the ground, 
and repeated that verse of the Ave maris Stella, 
which commences with Monstra et esse matrem— 
u Exert for us a mother's care," devoted himself and 
all his family to her service, begged her blessing, 
and rose up saying, " Incomparable mother, pray 
fonts." 

On entering his chapel he profoundly adored the 
Lord, and held himself in his presence, in the 
most perfect sentiments of humility and abnega- 
tion. At half-past six o'clock he performed his 
penance, and read on his knees two chapters of the 
new Testament ; at seven o'clock he went to his 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



369 



oratory, and made there three stations — one of 
the blessed Virgin, another to St. Joseph, and the 
third to St. Teresa; he then occupied himself 
■with his duties as a citizen and Iiead of a family 
until Mass, and did not return from the church 
until eleven o'clock on the days on which he dined 
the poor, or half-past eleven on other days. Be- 
fore dinner he made the examen of the morning, 
prayed for the church, for the propagation of the 
faith, and the souls in purgatory ; while at table, 
at which he sat from twelve till the half hour 
after, a pious lecture was read; after dinner he 
gave audience to all who came for his advice or 
instruction, and however occupied, he never failed 
to spend an hour in the evening before the Holy 
Sacrament. Before supper he recited some vocal 
prayers, always with great fervour, and when the 
repast was ended, listened while they read the life 
of the Saint of the following day ; he then devo- 
ted an hour and a half to the instruction of his 
children, still more to form the heart than the 
mind; after prayers with all his family, he 
returned to his oratory, where he meditated till 
ten o'clock ; he then came back to his apartment, 
and only went to take a necessary repose, after 
having given his Divine Master new testimonies of 
love and adoration. 

Some will regard this detail as a tissue of 
trifles. But to appreciate a plan so easy and 
simple in appearance, let us sound the heart of 
the "good De Renty, and we shall soon learn that 
external order is an infallible sign that all is duly 
regulated within. Let these proud spirits hear 
the avowal which this obedient son made to his 
'faithful Ananias: 44 Notwithstanding my infideli- 
ties to grace, which I much regret, being nothing 
but vice and sin, I generally have within me a 
24 

I 



370 



CATHOLIC BIOGKAPHY. 



lively sentiment, a great plenitude of the pre- 
sence of the Holy Trinity, or of some other mys- 
tery which elevates me to God by a simple view ; 
then I perform all that Divine Providence requires 
without regarding the greatness or smaliness of 
the thing, but the will of God, and the glory he 
can derive therefrom. With regard to spiritual 
exercises which are made in common, I conform 
to them certainly for edification, but my interior 
attractive remains unchanged. "When God is 
present, there is no need of seeking him, and 
when he communicates himself to us in one man- 
ner, it is not for us to seek to possess him in ano- 
ther. For my interior conduct then, I have no 
rule but my attractive — for my exterior, no guide 
but the will of God ; to this I try to conform in all 
the simplicity of my heart, and I taste, through 
the divine grace, a solid peace, a profound recol- 
lection, and a sentiment of great respect for the 
Most High." 

The pious De Renty went to confession every 
Thursday, and communicated almost every day. 
His confessor having enjoined him to disclose the 
effect produced in his soul by his intimate and 
continual communication with his Divine Master, 
behold his answer which he gave in writing : 

"The way traced out to conduct me to God 
through the merits of Jesus Christ, is to walk in 
great purity, humble and despoiled of myself, to 
serve the Lord in spirit and truth — to love him 
with all my heart and soul, and all the powers of 
my being ; to behold in all events only the admi- 
rable conduct of Providence — to adore its decrees, 
and entirely conform to its designs. This senti- 
ment effaces all others from my soul — no longer I 
venture to say have I any human movement, ex- 
cept some very light and transient — my will is so 

I 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



371 



ardent and inflamed that I should be consumed if 
God did not temper the flame which enkindles 
me. This flame even operates on my members — 
my whole being speaks for God — I am lost in His 
immensity — I would wish to annihilate myself 
therein for His glory — I cannot express this senti- 
ment as I feel it — I stop not considering any thing 
that passes within me, being penetrated with my 
own nothingness. You will pardon, Rev. father, 
the little order that reigns in this detail ; I have 
written as things presented themselves to me— I 
would reckon myself happy if you knew all my 
miseries, they would, no doubt, excite your com- 
passion." 

This interior spirit was not acquired in a mo- 
ment ; it cost long and generous efforts, and 
heroic sacrifices. Hear De Renty again, Souls 
zealous for your perfection! "I desire nothing but 
God. I only ambition a union with Jesus Christ, and 
the poiver of rendering him all the homage of zvhich I 
am capable. I have great want of this divine 
Saviour. But I shoidd confess to you in gratitude to 
the Divine Mercy, that he is more master of me than I 
am of myself— I know I am notMng but sin ; but I 
feel icithin me my Lord and my God — lie is my 
strength, my life, my peace, my all ; may He be your 
plenitude." 

These admirable dispositions caused him to em- 
brace every opportunity of speaking of God. 
" Let us forget all," wrote he to a friend, "to live 
only by faith, by which, through the merits of 
Christ we are united to God himself. Our divine 
Redeemer came to announce this truth ; he has 
sealed it with his blood, and will one day crown 
with glory those who have governed themselves 
by his spirit. Let us seek the Father by the Son 
— He is the way which leads to him ; the most 



372 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY 



important point for us is to unite with Jesus Christ, 
and to be governed by His spirit. There is no 
soul I am convinced who loves Jesus, in whom we 
do not perceive singular marks of grace and ope- 
rations of His Holy Spirit. Let us love this Lord : 
let us unite ourselves to Him. Miserable sinner, 
I fear I do not love Him, but I would reckon my- 
self happy to see some fervent souls supply my 
deficiency." 

Let us follow this fervent christian in his exte- 
rior conduct. In his frequent visits to the Hotel 
2)ieu, to the poor of his parish, and to the 
prisoners, he never failed to distribute to them 
spiritual as well as corporal food ; but these good 
works were never performed at the expense of the 
duties of his state : nothing was more admirable 
than the order established in his family — his 
house more resembled a religious community than 
a secular establishment: besides the spiritual 
exercises attached to each day, he every Saturday 
explained to, or instructed them on the epistle 
and gospel of the following Sunday. He watched 
over his numerous family with a parent's love, 
and felt as much joy when any of its members 
behaved virtuously, as sorrow when they acted 
wrong ; one of his domestics in a fit of rage hav- 
ing committed terrible excesses in the church, his 
good master wrote to him, "If you knew how 
much such conduct displeases God, and what 
scandal it occasions, your heart would be rent 
with sorrow. Ah! I should give my goods, my 
blood, my life, to obtain for you that contrition on 
which your salvation depends. I beseech you as 
a brother, and command you as a master, to 
repair your fault." 

Full of zeal and tenderness for his children, his 
only ambition was to render them fervent chris- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



373 



tians, being convinced that this quality essentially 
includes all others, all his cares and efforts were 
directed towards it. He cherished his domestics 
and tenantry with a parent's affection ; he every 
year procured a mission at his own expense in the 
lands which belonged to him. and never ceased to 
recommend his stewards to exercise towards all, 
justice, mildness, charity, and peace. 

But in proportion as he advanced in years, the 
virtuous De Renty progressed in perfection, he 
very soon acquired in the highest degree self- 
denial, and detachment from created things. He 
had so great an attachment for poverty, that the 
authority of his directors was necessary to prevent 
his quitting all, and going to a strange country to 
live by the labour of his hands. He by degrees 
deprived himself of every thing superfluous, or 
that he supposed himself to have any affection for : 
he sacrificed even the books which he habitually 
used, because of their splendid binding ; dismissed 
his pages, retaining only some lackeys for his at- 
tendants. In fine, he almost deprived himself of 
all property, by the following act, written by him- 
self: 

"I make a total renunciation of myself and of 
all that belongs to me into the hands of God, on 
this great feast of the Nativity, constituting Him 
the proprietor, and myself the steward, to dispense 
and distribute all my wealth, only according to 
His will." 

This generous sacrifice is only agreeable to 
God, inasmuch as it originates in humility, and to 
what a point did not De Renty carry this virtue ? 
"If I desired any thing/' said he ingeniously, "it 
would be to be humbled, despised, regarded as the 
opprobrium of men— even this favour I deem my- 
self unworthy of. Be you humble, and very 



374 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



humble/' used he often repeat. 0 happy little- 
ness, how great thou art! The following words 
were found written in his blood: "My God, I 
giye you my liberty, and I ask of you that sort of 
annihilation which is necessary for every chris- 
tian, in order to elevate him to you. 

" Signed, 
" Gaston John Baptist de Renty" 

His love of abjection appeared in all his letters 
and conversations. Writing to a friend, he said, 
"All my resolution is contained in these words of 
David, I have chosen to be an outcast in the 
house of my God." To another he wrote, " I am 
led to demand an humble, suffering, and hidden 
life. Humility," said he, "is the basis of the 
work of God in us; it renders the creature so 
little — it so separates her from herself, that she 
can no longer consider herself as any thing ; she 
is only occupied with the greatness of God and 
her own nothingness, and not having any thing 
which she has not received from God, she has no 
taste or inclination but for him alone. How 
would he deceive himself who should imagine 
himself any thing? The soul who knows herself 
truly, relies not on her own strength, but invaria- 
bly turns towards God, like a needle to the 
magnet." 

"I am in the presence of God," says he again, 
" like an egg that has been trodden under foot — I 
cannot conceive how they think me worth speak- 
ing of; the sight of our misery makes us feel the 
need we have of grace, and establishes in the soul 
the belief that she can do nothing but retard in 
herself the operation of God." 

Anxious to be reproached for his faults, he 
asked a person, in every respect his inferior, to 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



375 



point out to him his defects, and to inform him of 
all that he did contrary to the perfection to which 
he aspired. He received his admonitions with 
respect, generally on his knees, accusing himself 
as if he had been the most wicked of men. Far 
from taking any of his titles, scarcely would ho 
permit them to call him Sir. At church always 
mingled with the crowd, in the lower parfc of the 
sacred edifice, he was never happier than when 
under cover of his poor garments, he was taken 
for one of the humblest citizens. 

The king having offered him the charge of 
counsellor of state, consulting only his humility, 
he at once refused it, and intreated secrecy on 
the offer and refusal. The secret was not kept, 
and some prudent and religious persons having 
represented to him, that by accepting this offer, 
he might promote the glory of God, and the good 
of men, he submitted. 1 

Such humble, fervent piety, entitled De Renty 
to share in the sufferings of his Divine Master, 
and he was not long without experiencing them : 
his severest trial arose from the conduct of his 
mother. This ill advised woman, condemning 
without doubt the poor and humble life of her 
son, entered a law-suit against him for the re- 
covery of immense sums, which she said were 
due to her, on the demise of her husband. The 
baron's contempt of riches would have induced 
him to surrender all, if justice to his children did 
not oblige him to maintain his right. The 
business was left to arbitration, and he submitted 
the choice of the arbiters to his mother, praying 
them to satisfy her as much as conscience would 
permit ; on the day fixed for decision, he and his 
virtuous spouse redoubled their prayers that the 
Lord might terminate the affair to his glory. 



376 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



The decision was against him, yet he signed 
the sentence as calmly as if it had been in his 
favour. 

Thinking his mother was now content, he hoped 
that peace would again revive in his family, but 
still dissatisfied, she carried the affair before the* 
parliament of Dijon, despite of the pressing solici- 
tations of De Eenty, who several times threw him- 
self at her feet, offering her all his fortune, in 
order to prevent the scandal, arising from her liti- 
gation. But in vain ; the business was to be tried 
at Dijon. 

Malignant calumnies preceded the arrival of the 
good baron in that city, and although exposed to 
the sarcasms of a number of persons vho accused 
him of being an ill-natured son, and an abomina- 
ble hypocrite, he suffered these indignities with 
joy, and thus renders an account of them to his 
confessor i 

"24th July, 1643. 
" I am then at Dijon since it has pleased God ; 
I well know since my arrival that the design of 
God is that I should lead a hidden and unknown 
life, in a spirit of penance for my sins. They say 
I am a hypocrite— that under the appearance of 
devotion I conceal my wickedness. This has 
caused me to be very retired, fearing I should 
give more scandal than edification, should I 
appear abroad. A religious community, one even 
from whom I had reason to expect the contrary, 
has coalesced against me. But this has been to 
mc a source of great graces ; I have visited them, 
and taken care, while I joyfully suffered the 
humiliations I met, not to say a single word 
which could dispose them in my favour, at the 
same time having sufficient regard to truth. I 
imagine myself an outcast, and as the scape-goat* 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



377 



of the ancient law, chased to the desert to atone 
for my sins, not bj simple pains, but bj such as 
carry along with them confusion and humiliation. 
In rendering you this account, my only view is to 
please God, and condemn myself." A religious, 
of eminent virtue, amazed at the calmness with 
which the baron listend to the atrocious calumnies 
uttered against him, asked him if he felt not 
irritated at such treatment? to whom he replied, 
" No, I have such respect for the will of God, that 
I cannot afflict myself for any thing he permits ; 
I am such a great sinner, that my mother, and 
even the whole world has reason to rise up against 
me." 

We know not how this unpleasant affair termi- 
nated, but certain it is, that it lessened not in the 
least that respectful love, which De Renty ever 
cherished for his parent. He never wdifully 
thought of her injustice towards him. But we 
need not be surprised ; he was as exemplary for 
his patience as for his humility ; his temper was 
so equable that it would be hard to say what it 
was that gave him pain or pleasure ; he was never 
heard to complain. When attacked, during a long 
journey, with a violent rheumatism, not a word 
escaped him which could make his sufferings sus- 
pected ; in spite of him, his torments appeared in 
his countenance, which caused a religious Carme- 
lite, his particular friend, to ask him if he did not 
suffer much ? It is true, he replied, my pains are 
lively enough to cause me to faint away, but 
though I feel them in all their rigour, it is God 
alone who fills my mind and affections. Being 
delivered from these agonies by the prayers of his 
picus friend, who with her community made a 
novena to the Holy Virgin for his cure, he offered 



378 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



in gratitude a heart of crystal, enchased in gold, 
to be placed in the chapel of his benefactress. 

But he still found occasions of exercising pa- 
tience. One day, instructing as usual poor 
strangers at the hospital, a person of the estab- 
lishment, vexed to see him thus employed, offered 
him the grossest insults. The servant of God 
heard him without emotion, and merely prayed 
him with humility not to interrupt the good work 
he had undertaken. This sweetness disarmed not 
the insolent officer, who in a few days after oblig- 
ed De Renty to discontinue his visits. 

Equally patient in small as in great trials, he 
always preserved his soul in peace. He delighted 
in conversing with the Lord in his sanctuary — 
there, hours flew like moments ; sometimes the 
poor interrupted his sweet entertainments, by 
their importunities. On one occasion of this 
kind, he said, "I see that if we were more en- 
lightened we would not fancy ourselves embar- 
rassed or annoyed by any thing whatever, because 
in all events we should only see the will of God, 
which conducts every thing for our advantage — the 
inquietudes caused in us by trivial accidents pro- 
ceed from our ignorance and unmortified spirit. 
No doubt, we should avoid occasions of distrac- 
tion; but when they come, we should receive 
them from the hand of God with sweetness and 
humility. This is the great secret of the spiritual 
life, and even a paradise upon earth. 

It is most certain that nothing troubles us but 
our unmortified affections. Let us silence these 
movements and preserve our souls in peace, that 
if contradicted in one good work, the same hin- 
drance may help us to practice another. A per- 
son prevents you from meditating, or something 
else, but he helps you to practice patience, which 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



379 



is more agreeable to God, and more efficacious for 
your perfection, than any thing you proposed to 
do in following your own will, for have you not 
made an act of abnegation, and it is precisely in 
that perfection consists. The fulness of God is 
found only in the creature that is void of itself. 
God forms you for himself, did he write to an in- 
valid, in uniting you to Jesus suffering. Ah, 
what a favour it is — a thousand times more 
valuable than you can imagine ! If those who 
taste the joys of the world were enlightened like 
you, they would discover a splendid prodigy — a 
christian happy in the bosom of fortune, and a 
worldling unhappy in the midst of delights. He 
greatly valued sufferings, and often repeated with 
St. Teresa, "either to suffer or die.'" I see 
nothing profitable in this life, wrote he to a friend, 
but sufferings. The consolations of earth miti- 
gate our penance, and hinder the soul from arriv- 
ing at a more eminent degree of perfection. I do 
not deny, however, thai they may not sometimes 
be necessary, since our weakness needs support 
to practise mortification. He wrote thus to his 
confessor, at the commencement of lent : I thought 
that no penance would be more rigorous to me, 
than to be obliged to sit at a sumptuous table, to 
frequent company, to participate in their plea- 
sures, to mingle in their conversation — it would 
be an anticipated hell, though God were not 
offended. 

"Few," wrote he to a lady in affliction, "few 
know the secret of Christianity. Many glory in 
the title of christian, without a particle of its 
spirit ; several in their prayers, and ordinary 
actions, raise their thoughts to heaven, but in im- 
portant actions they are the children of nature ? 
they regard only the earth, or if they look at God, 



380 



CATHOLIC BIOGIIAPHY. 



it is only to lament and complain, and to pray 
him to condescend to their will, but not to make 
him the sacrifice of their own ; they are unwilling 
to make him any sacrifices, as if a christian life 
was not a life of sacrifice, a counterpart of that of 
Christ crucified. 

" God knowing our weakness sometimes de- 
prives us of a father, a child, or a spouse, for our 
greater good, to make us feel that these human 
affections remove us from him, and are such ob- 
stacles to salvation, that one day we shall regard 
the privation of these objects as the greatest 
mercy. Affliction, like wormwood, is bitter to 
the mouth, but salutary to the heart — it destroys 
old Adam to make Jesus Christ live in us." 

The pious de Renty was most austere ; he took 
but one meal every day, until he was compelled in 
consideration of the labours he underwent for his 
neighbour, to take a little more food. We shall 
say nothing of the holy cruelty he frequently exer- 
cised on his person, which was peculiar to him- 
self, and more to be admired than imitated. 
When he travelled without his family, he always 
eat at the same table as the meanest of his fellow- 
travellers, to practise mortification, and to in- 
struct them by his discourse. He passed the 
night stretched on a plank or seated in a chair. 
His privations at table were not less exemplary ; 
he eat little, and always of the worst kind. One 
fast day, dining with some friends, it was perceiv- 
ed he had only eaten a few pears ; his modesty 
and recollection at table were such as proved thai 
while he satisfied the wants of nature his heart 
was rivetted in God. 

Often when he visited some sick or poor at 
Paris, and that he happened to be too far off to be 
at home at dinner hour, he contented himself with 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



381 



a crust of bread and some water, rather than in- 
terrupt the progress of his good works. He mor- 
tified the other senses equally, as the taste, conti- 
nually subjecting his body to some new trial or 
fatigue, at which he was very ingenious. He 
conceived not, as he said to a friend, how a person 
could treat a beast (thus he denominated his body) 
mildly, who had more need of a spur than a 
bridle. He only granted nature what was abso- 
lutely necessary to prevent it from sinking. And 
yet, how precious was his health to the communi- 
ty! There was no good work at Paris, or in the 
provinces, in which he bore not a part: no enter- 
prise which involved the glory of God, in which 
he did not co-operate — no pious association of 
which he was not a promoter or a member. He 
had correspondents throughout the kingdom. 
From all quarters his advice was solicited, for the 
establishment of hospitals, seminaries, &c. 

Sometime after his death, a person wrote thus 
from Caen: De Renty was our support in execu- 
ting our designs for the glory of God, and the good 
of our neighbour. We often wrote to him, as well 
for the establishment of our hospitals, as for the 
erection of the house for penitent women. We 
also took his advice for the correction of those 
impious men who openly profaned the Holy 
Sacrament. 

From Dijon one wrote: — We confess Baron de 
Renty achieved great things in this province, in 
all places he has advanced the cause of God. 
His days were filled with the plenitude of God — 
perhaps he spent not a moment which did not ad- 
vance the divine interests. 

To give a more perfect idea of his charity, let 
us mention that he learned to bleed, to dress 
wounds and sores, in order to be of more use to 



382 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



others. He dedicated himself to all that is most 
painful and humiliating in the service of the sick, 
and in course of time acquired such a reputation 
for skill, that crowds flocked to consult him on 
divers sorts of maladies. He one day in each 
week dined three poor persons, waiting on them 
himself most respectfully, and with head uncover- 
ed ; after dinner, he instructed them on some of 
the principal mysteries of religion, and in dis- 
missing them gave them an alms, repeated to 
them some salutary advices, and conducted them 
even to the door. On Christmas day he gave a 
poor child his dinner, in honour of the Divine 
Infant. On the Epiphany, he invited a poor man, 
a poor woman, and a little child to dinner, in 
honour of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Maunday 
Thursday, he washed the feet of twelve poor men, 
and served them at table ; he gave them another 
dinner on the feast of his patron St. John Baptist. 

Baron de Renty was the first who thought of 
succouring the English catholics who took refuge 
in France, in the time of persecution. He en- 
gaged several persons of quality to unite in this 
good work, and charged himself with distributing 
part of the alms, in the most remote corners of 
Paris. He every month visited the asylums of 
the unfortunate with great respect, and bestowed 
their little pension on the poor inmates with all 
the politeness of genuine charity. Returning one 
day from this edifying course, he said to a friend : 
" These certainly are true christians, since they 
have forsaken all for God ; they are satisfied with 
two crowns per month, who have renounced foi 
conscience sake an immense fortune — Christianity 
consists not in words, but in works." But his 
charity was not confined to those objects who fell 
under his observation ; he assisted the poor fugi- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



383 



tlve Irish. — the captives of Barbary, and the mis- 
sionaries of the Levant, were also the objects of 
his solicitude. He indefatigably laboured to 
ameliorate the condition of the felons of the hos- 
pital of Marseilles, and contributed in a great 
degree to the conversion of the savages of 
Canada, by aiding their generous apostles. He 
disdained not to learn different trades, that by 
teaching them to children he might furnish them 
with honest means of subsistence. He contri- 
buted to correct a thousand abuses among trades- 
men and mechanics, by teaching them to live ac- 
cording to the spirit of religion. One day, he led 
one of his friends to a poor man who gained a 
livelihood by making baskets, &c, in a cellar; 
having finished one that he had commenced there 
a few days before, he left it to the poor man with 
an alms and thanks, for having enabled him to be 
useful to some unfortunate person, by teaching 
him his trade. 

At Dijon he taught the Ursulines to make up 
different remedies for the poor. Nothing, say 
these ladies, was so moving as to see this respec- 
table man performing the lowest and most painful 
functions for the sick, sometimes spending whole 
hours before the fire making up medicines, with- 
out allowing the lay sisters even to lessen his 
fatigues. But " love knows no difficulties in the 
service of the beloved," as himself said to an inti- 
mate friend — it seems that my soul is all charity 
■ — I cannot express the desire I feel of seeing my 
heart take a new life with the Divine Infant 
Jesus, and consuming itself like his with love for 
men. 

At his chateau, he received the poor lepers, 
lodged them in one of his finest apartments, 
cleansed and served them with his own hands, 



384 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



and did not dismiss them till they were perfectly 
cured. At Paris he visited them in their asylum 
in St. Germains. — I have seen him there, says an 
eye-witness, cleanse the most revolting ulcers. 

What more eloquent testimony in favour of de 
Renty's charity than that furnished at the -hotel 
Dieu, which he attended during the space of 
twelve years. At coming in and going out he 
went to visit the holy Sacrament, and remained 
before it with such devotion as edified the be- 
holders. At his entry it was to offer this action 
to the Lord, and to ask him for the necessary 
graces. At going forth it was to entreat Him to 
bless and render the good work efficacious. He 
continued to serve the poor patients from two 
o'clock till five in the afternoon. He several 
times kissed their feet, dressed their sores, and 
taught the religious in attendance how to make 
up an ointment very useful to their patients. 

It would be impossible to say the number of 
young women whom he preserved from seduction, 
or withdrew from bad habits, and afterwards 
placed in security from future danger. At Dijon 
he met a wicked woman, whose multiplied infir- 
mities announced her guilty of most shameful 
disorders ; her very aspect inspired horror ; she 
exhaled a putrid odour; no person ventured to 
approach her, and she was on the point of being 
turned out of her lodging; de Renty prevailed 
with her host not to dismiss her, provided her a 
nurse and all necessary remedies, carried her 
every day broths and other nourishments, in- 
structed, consoled, and finally restored her to 
health, honour, and religion. The hospital of St. 
Gervase offered an asylum to poor travellers dur- 
ing the night; our servant of God, asked, and ob- 
tained permission, to give out catechism there 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



385 



every evening, and produced great fruit. He 
continued the good work many years, until it was 
taken up by a virtuous ecclesiastic. 

These charitable acts will not astonish us when 
we consider how dear the poor were to de Renty ; 
on meeting them he cordially embraced them, ana 
never spoke to them without taking off his hat, 
beholding only Jesus Christ in their persons. 
Learning that a man had been nine years in irons 
in Normandy, because he could not procure a 
judgment against a powerful party, he took his 
cause in hand, and by procuring his liberation 
restored an honest citizen, who afterwards became 
an ecclesiastic. This good man had acquired a 
sovereignty over all hearts, which was really won- 
derful: words in his mouth seemed to have a par- 
ticular virtue ; they produced on his hearers an 
effect as prompt as it was salutary. Many of our 
separated brethren were indebted to him for their 
conversion, several sinners for their amendment, 
and numbers of weak souls for their perseverance 
in virtue. His piety was so universally known, 
that passing for a man endowed with celestial 
lights, he performed for many the ohice of spiri- 
tual director: a young woman of quality, the 
Countess of Chartres, having passed her first years 
in the pleasures of the world, was converted by 
the prayers and example of the baron ; she con- 
sulted him on all the affairs of her soul, and 
received his advice as if it had proceeded from 
the mouth of God himself. This created between 
them an holy friendship, but however pure their 
intimacy, de Renty paid her as short visits as 
possible, and always standing. Complaining of 
this to a friend, who mentioned it to the baron, 
he said — I have adopted this custom because my 
duty to God and the countess requires it ; if we 



386 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



sat down, perhaps we might say more than would 
be useful; I assure you I don't maintain this 
correspondence but with great confusion, being so 
ignorant, and so great a sinner, although I know 
it to be the will of God, as several pious persons 
have assured me. 

Notwithstanding this apparent severity, De Ren- 
ty interested himself ardently for the salvation of 
the sex. Behold the salutary advices he address- 
ed them : 

"As it was a woman who caused so many evils 
in the world, it would seem that the Lord wishes 
that women may repair them, since he has destin- 
ed them to superintend the education of their 
children, and take care of their household — while 
men preside abroad, these govern at home. 

"All orders of society being then confided to 
women, their functions are most important; to 
educate their children in piety, to preserve them 
in innocence, to dispose them to receive grace, to 
know and follow their vocation ; these duties 
merit their most serious reflections, since on their 
discharge depends the good of mankind, and that 
a rigorous account will one day be required con- 
cerning them. 

"They should take the greatest care of their 
children from their tenderest years, correcting 
with sweetness, and by their own example, what 
they perceive reprehensible in them. Let them 
remember that vice should be corrected in its 
source, or it will continue to increase till it be- 
comes incorrigible. They should never suffer 
their children to be alone, or to mix with other 
children, without the presence of some virtuous 
person. 

"They should take care to have their domestics 
instructed in their holy religion, and be vigilant 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



387 



over their conduct, lest they indulge in cursing, 
immodesty, drunkenness, or other vices. 

" A mistress of a house should take care that 
her servants are well treated in their sicknesses, 
and visit them herself at times. She should take 
care that their wages be duly paid, and that they 
be provided with necessaries, lest they be tempted 
to steal or murmur 

"Let her, not only in her own house, but in 
those of her friends, introduce the pious custom 
of common prayer. If her husband is absent on 
these occasions, let her take his place. 

"Let her be continually employed, as also her 
children, lest time be uselessly spent ; and let her 
lead her little ones with her in the charitable 
visits which she will not fail to pay her poor 
neighbours. 

" Let her take care of the linen and ornaments 
of the parish church, lest our mysteries be con- 
temned. Let her greatly respect priests, regard- 
ing only the dignity of their ministry, and inspire 
all that depend on her with the like sentiments. 

"Let her receive visitors with charity and hos- 
pitality, trying to make it an occasion of good in- 
stead of passing her time in idle discourse. She 
will not preserve in her house indecent pictures 
or images, or suffer her children to read novels, 
&c, or to dress immodestly : in fine, she will do 
ail she can to establish the reign of God, and to 
make those under her, love him with all their 
heart." 

De Eenty enjoyed universal confidence from his 
modest exterior, affable and edifying and instruc- 
tive converse, and unalterable sweetness. Charity 
influenced all his actions, he was a living image 
of that virtue. 

His love to God never let him lose his presence 



388 CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 

Hence, in the country, contemplating the gifts 
which His bounty so profusely pours in nature's 
lap, he walked with his head respectfully uncover- 
ed. With such sentiments he could not deliver 
himself in a cold dry manner. I must be silent, 
wrote he, towards the close of one of his letters, 
yet if I cease to speak, the fire which consumes 
me will not repose. Let us burn then — let us 
burn in all and in every place for God ; since we 
are his, why should we not live for him? 

He bore the death of his son, a most promising 
youth, with submission, and even with joy. His 
lady, whom he tenderly loved, being taken ill 
soon after, he so far mastered himself as not to 
let his grief appear. I cannot deny, said he, that 
I feel the most piercing sorrow, but I am so glad 
to have an opportunity of sacrificing to God what 
I hold so dear, that if decency permitted, I would 
make public rejoicing. I do not know, wrote he, 
what mortification means if a person has confor- 
mity ; because having no resistance in the spirit, 
there is no mortification; whosoever feels only 
what God wishes is content. 

It was, no doubt, by this continual immolation 
he attained such a degree of prayer. His body 
only was on earth: his thoughts and affections 
were fixed in heaven. Being taken ill on the 
11th April, 1649, he exhibited all the patience in 
his extreme sufferings of which he had through 
life been such a perfect model. A person having 
inquired if he suffered much, O, said he, the love 
of God lessens sufferings — his servants suffer 
nothing. It is true, said he to another, I suffer 
much, but I do not feel it, because my thoughts 
are elsewhere. When presented with some leni- 
tives — these, said he, won't make us live or die : 
they are then unnecessary. He took without 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



389 



murmur the most disgusting remedies. A dear 
friend having come from the country to see him 
on the first news of his illness: Ah, said he, with 
an ardour which indicated his disengagement 
from creatures, I no longer wish but God alone. 
He recommended the missions to this friend, pray- 
ing him to employ in them all his zeal, as the 
most proper means of glorifying Jesus Christ. 

Calling for Madame de Renty, he said, I re- 
commend the poor to you — will you not take care 
of them? you will do it for me; and do not be 
afraid you will thereby lessen your property. 
The third day of his illness he received the Holy 
Viaticum with great devotion, and remained a 
long time in profound silence. Some one testify- 
ing his astonishment hereat, he said he ought 
not to speak in the presence of the Word whoni 
he had received, and that he was occupied with 
the joy of a soul who sees itself on the point of 
being united to its first principle. 

Being told that the physicians thought if he re- 
laxed his attention, that it would lessen his pains : 
Ah! said he, I never felt such joy — I desire to be 
dissolved and be with Christ. He afterwards 
asked them to open the window that he might be- 
hold the beauty of the sun, and exclaimed: " 0 
beautiful day of eternity, which will know no 
night !" 

The more he suffered, the more he applied to 
prayer and contemplation. In his agony, he said, 
"Courage, courage, eternity approaches !" Sud- 
denly he gazed at something fixedly, and with a 
smiling countenance, for a quarter of an hour; 
then making an effort he sat up, and said as if 
enraptured, "I adore you, I adore you." 

He answered to the prayers of the church while 
he was anointed, and having given his last bless- 



390 



CATHOLIC BJOGrKAPHT. 



ing to his children, he said to a noble friend, 
"The perfection of a christian consists in union 
with God by faith — let us be faithful, and unite 
all our actions to those of His Son — I hope we 
shall one day behold each other, never to be sepa- 
rated — pray for me." Then kissing his crucifix, 
and invoking Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the pious 
De Renty expired in his thirty-seventh year, on 
the 24th of April, 1649. 



391 



MEANS OF PERFECTION AND INTERIOR 
LIFE. 

By Plere Surin, 8. J. 



1st. Self-knowledge and penance, to be acquired 
by penetrating in retreat into one's interior, see- 
ing one's self-love, self-esteem, and confounding 
one's self for them before God. Looking upon 
venial sins, as worldlings upon mortal sin after 
conversion, and upon first irregular movements, 
as upon deliberate sins, with the spirit of St. Mag- 
dalen. Such is the purgative life. We should 
enter deeply into ourselves, watch our actions, 
examine our motives, see our passions and irregu- 
lar movements, with the habitual vice which pro- 
duces them. We should also search the remedy, 
be on our guard in dangerous occasions, resist 
strongly, repent if overcome, rising without delay 
or discouragement. Such should be our interior 
occupation. 

2nd means. — Recollection. — This should consist 
in closing our senses to exterior things which are 
unnecessary, permit them no voluntary action 
for which we could not assign a satisfactory rea- 
son; admitting nothing into our interior capable 



392 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



of diverting our attention from God and ourselves; 
avoiding useless curiosities, all wishes to see, and 
hear, and talk of every thing curious or interest- 
ing. 

The 2nd duty of recollection, is to watch over 
our tongue, and to be circumspect in our words : 
a man who cannot be silent, will never acquire 
solid virtue. 

The 3rd point is not to meddle with the affairs 
of others, nor to learn any thing unnecessary 
about them. The true solitary sees no one, 
though surrounded by men. False zeal, human 
respect, complaisance, impatience, vain fear, &c, 
&c, are consequences of the contrary. 

Let us keep our eyes cast down, without gazing 
at others, their actions, or their countenance, in 
going through the house, &c. Let us not seek 
for news, &c, or our prayer will be distracted, 
and lectures superficial, &c. The eyes of body and 
mind, says St. Vincent Ferrer, should be averted 
from others, that we may better see ourselves. 

The 3rd means. — Interior peace. — The only reme- 
dy for our troubles, is to judge of things by their 
merit, to conceive grand ideas of God, to learn to 
despise the world, to make no account of what is 
to die and perish, not to value the esteem or 
judgments of men, to make account only of God 
and His service. This will nobly elevate the 
soul, she will regard as far beneath her what she 
previously valued, she will begin to know what 
she is, and to fear what she should be, and feel 
more anxious to correct a trivial fault than to 
cure a long illness. 

The practice of this peace, consists in not being 
warm about any thing. 2nd, in not meddling 
with others, 3rd, in calming all unquiet move- 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY. 



393 



ments. 4th, in avoiding useless thoughts and 
occasions of agitation, multiplicity of affairs; in 
reading the Saints' lives, &c. 

The Mh means. — Vigilance and assiduity in holy 
Exercises. — Constant application is indispensable ; 
it must be continual and universal, not doing any 
thing without examining her motives and what 
God demands, and how we behave regarding it. 
Despising trifles, we shall do no good. These are 
our rising, eating, reading, writing, prajing, con- 
versing, &c, &c. A person is not good by merely 
performing an act of virtue occasionally, or on 
great occasions only; we should never relax, within, 
without, at table, in company, recreating, study- 
ing, we should practice virtue. That is, we should 
act with a pure intention in the presence of 
God, without malice, &c 4 , by this means the 
habit of acting sup ernatur ally is formed and ac- 
quired. 

Exercises of piety should never be omitted, and 
at every hour we should renew our purpose of 
tending to perfection. 

The 5th means. 

This comprises three or four 

1st. Purity of intention, until the habit be per- 
fectly acquired, of acting for God, examining our 
motives, instincts, and holding back, if pride or 
self-love be discovered as influencing us. 

2. The amendment of our life, general change 
of manners, habits, and firm resolve not to suffer 
any voluntary defect. The predominant to be 
made matter of particular examen. 

3. The practice of the presence of God. 

4. The mortification of our passions and irregu- 
lar appetites. 



CATHOLIC BIOGRAPHY, 



TO OUR * BLESSED LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL. 

Flos Carmeli! 
Virtis florigera! 
Splendor Coeli ! 
Virgo puerpera 

Singularis ! 

Mater mitis ! 
Sed vlri nescia 
Carmeli tis 
Da privilegia 

Stella Maris I 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

The life of Father Peter Fabro, or Faber, 7 

The edifying life of Madame de St. Beuve, foundress of 

the Ursulines at Paris, 43 

Life of Father Ballhasar Alvarez, S. J. 65 

Mrs. Susanna de Neuvillars; or, the fervent convert, ... 97 

Mary Amice Picard, Hi 

Madame Elizabeth Ranquet du Chevreul D'Esturville, 

matron, ... ... ... 123 

The life of the venerable mother, Mary Beron of St. 

Magdalen, religious Ursuline at Paris, 133 

The life of Father Lewis Lallemant, S. J. 151 

Paul Kotska, brother of St. Stanislaus, 175 

Cyprian Morel; or, the virtuous Merchant, 131 

Juliana Jouvin, a Sister of Charity, , ... 189 

Joseph Arot, or, the Virtuous Lawyer, 213 

Mary Guyard Martin, in religion, Sister Mary of the 

Incarnation, foundress and first Superioress of the 

Ursulines in Canada., 225 

Madame Candida Hiu, grand-daughter of the Chancellor 

of China, 263 

Peter Bachelier de Gentes, gentleman, , ... 281 

George Throckmorton, gentleman, 289 

Life of the good Henry, the pious shoemaker, 303 

The life of Mary E. Tricalet le Boeuf, ... 327 

The life of the virtuous Mary Diaz, 351 

The life of John Baptist Gaston de Renty, 363 

Means of perfection and interior life, by Piere Surin, S.J. 391 



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